Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128232
World Superbike Championship-winning Fila Oucati 999 F03 It may be a title winner. but it's not for everyone B y A LA N C A TH CA RT P HOT OS B y K EL E DGE D o n't und erestimate the ex te nt of the cha lle nge th at fac ed Du c at i in 20 03 . It ' s o ne t h i n g t o re place a motorcycl i ng desig n icon a nd tw o -wh e e l ed talis m a n that 's earned you a tota l of six World Superbik e ti tles , supplanting it with an allnew f resh ly styled streetb ike that 's better geared to the taller ri ders from northern latitudes who are collective ly yo ur m a in c ustom ers , b u t quite another t o retain that win ning streak with th e new bik e on the race trac k, especially in it s first year of co mp eti tion . Ye t th a t ' s w hat t he Du cat i C ors e Sup erb ik e race t eam head ed by Paol o Ciabatti has done th is y ear wi th th e F03 (a s in Factory 2003 ) race ve rsion of th e Pierre T erbl anche d esign ed 999 s t ree t b ike laun c hed at Int er m ot la st Sep t ember a nd n ow i n pursuit o f sho wroom success all aro und the worl d. In additio n, it has co nv inci ngly dominat ed this season's World Supe rbike Ch am pi onship in the han ds of Neil 44 SEPTEMB ER 17,2003' eye H odgson a n d Rub en Xau s , w ith Hodgson wr ap p in g up the t itl e merely by showing up at Assen , a full t wo rounds before the end of the season . However, th e extent of Ducatis achievement in winning 14 of the first 16 races an d returning th e t itle t '1 Bologna with the new face in Superbikes has been masked by the fact that it has e ff ec t i ve ly been racing aga inst itself. With the exception of a single Suzuki wearing intake restri c t ors in a trans ition a l seaso n when Ducatis don 't hav e to, th e tw o Fila spo nso re d 9 99 F03 fa ctory racers th e o nly 999 Sup erbik es as ye t racing a nywhere in the wo rld - h av e o n l y had to contend o n a regu la r ba si s with beat in g their o ne- o r two -yearold 998 desm o V -twi n b reth re n . No bo dy was more disa ppointed at H ond a 's de c ision t o p u ll o ut o f Wor l d S u p e rb i k e f or 2 0 0 3 t h an Du c at i , thus denie d th e chance to gain revenge fo r lo sing the world title to the J apan ese m arqu e last seaso n, in th at thrilling last-ro und shootout at Im ola . Yet , as it tu rned out, Ho nda perh ap s inadvertently did Ducati a good turn , and it self a d isfa vor, by all owing the It ali an fac to ry's Du cati Corse rac e shop to ease back on dev elo ping th e all -new , Superbike, in fav or of getting its new V4 des m o se dici M otoGP contender up to speed in dou bl e-qu ick time fo r it s debut sea- : son, which it du ly d id by lead in g it s fi rst rac e and eve nt ua lly beat ing Hond a ' s prev io u sly dom inant RC2 11V to the checkered flag in just its six th start . Comp limenli, amici! > I e n e vv s