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/128616
final goal, but an incentive to improve and sati sfy the requests of Ducati enthu siasts ,' said Massimo Bordi, general manager of Ducati S.pA US a n Felipe u Bo b Surman , the man who soloed the San Felipe 250, will again do it alone in the Baja 500 on June 3. Surmon will ride a Honda XR600. I C o o o o o o o According to Ducati , on May 16 the Italian company reached a high point of production aft er exceed ing 200 bikes produced in one day - all in one shift. W hen the Texas Pacific Group CTPG) took over Ducati Motor in September of 1996, the fact ory was producing only 25 bikes per day. "This historical achievement is not a There have been a lot of rumor s in the mill rec e nt ly concerning amateur motocross sensation Bobby Bonds , and while none have been off icially confirmed as yet, they have been consisten t enough to warrant mention here. The 15year-o ld Bo nd s had bee n tearing up tracks around the westem United States (until injuring his wris t at the W orld Minis) o n FMF-backed Honda C Rs, and word has it that Honda has been in serio us negotiations with the youngster concerning a contract for professionel racing next year. If the deal were to go through. it would be betwee n Honda and Bo nds , though he would probably ride for FMF if that team remains Honda' s official satellite 125cc squad for 2001. Bo nds is expected to make a couple of appearances on the AMA/Chevy Trucks National Motocross circuit later this year after he tums 16 (and becomes eligible to race professionally) . W e'll keep you posted. M e mo rial D ay W e e ke nd was ind eed memorable this M ay 27·29, w ith ra in serio usly a ffecting motorcycle racing all over the world. In motocross. the M l. M or ri s , Penn syl vani a. r ou nd o f t he AMA/Chevy Trucks National Motocross Series too k place in extremely wet condi- tions, and as usual when that is the case. it made for a few une xpected results (Kell y S mith po st ing th e 125cc overall win, for example). Overseas , the secondever triple-header World Championship Motocros ss GP lo st two -th irds of its glory. as the 250 and 500cc classes were both cancelled in Foxhill. England. Fortunately. the AMA/P rogre ssive Insurance N ati on al D i rt Trac k S e r ie s roun d in Springfield. Illinois. was not ca nce lled . though it was delayed one day until Monday , again on account of the rain. The A M A / FM F N ati o nal Ch ampi on sh ip Enduro Series round in McArt hur. Ohio. wen t off on t ime . b ut it appear s t hat soggy conditions have caused a mixup in eN the results. • o Q Track us. Bank r""< g w z g w o , >- III ~ u o o o o n w ,....., W r- o o With Ducati currently dependent on wild card and stand-in riders to deliver continued World Superbike success during Carl Fogarty's unfortunate absence through in jury. the Italian company 's commercial balance sheet makes better reading than its sporting one. Ducati's 500 employees manufactured more than 200 bikes in a single eight-hour shift for the first time ever on May 16 (compared to a paltry 25 bikes per day back in September 1996, when American equity house TPG acquired the company). Also, first-quarter 2000 profits have been announced as up by 62 percent over the same period last yea r, on tot al sales of just under $100 million. Mos t importantly, this was reflected in increased registrations, rather than merely in sales from the Bo logn a factory to its increasingly wholly owned loca I importers. New Ducati registrations are up 29 percent on a global basis for the first quarter of the year, including a steep 83 -percent increase in the USA, 93 percent in Ho lland , 78 percent in France and 36 percent in the Italian home market. "We're especia lly satisfied with the sales performance of our Superbike farnily." says Ducati financia l boss Carlo di Biagio. "Seles of the 748 lin e more than tripled so far this year, thanks to the highl y acclaimed new models we introd uced l ast September. Our increased p rofitability is proof of growing demand for Ducati products worldwide. Globa lly , we have 50 Ducat! stores already operating . and plan to have over 60 stores by the middle of this year, with new openings in ci ties such as Paris, Brussels and as fa r away as Jakarta: The success of the new 748 line will be espe cially welcome, since there was at one time early in '9 9 a majority on the Ducati board in favor of scrapping the company's entire 748 Supersport range. They had reasoned that they might as well make the bigger profit margins from available production capacity delivered by their one-liter 996 lineup, given tha t the cost of m anufacture of the equivalent 748 model is almost identical. Fortunately, they didn 't vote that way .... Ducati management is also in the news for having taken steps to correct the set of circumstances that prevented it from acquiring Moto Guzzi. Said steps involved approv ing a 100 million-Euro five-year bond issue (about $90 million) which, so the company states. will be used fo r debt refin ancing - or in othe r wo rds. clearing Du cati's line of credit with its bank s. Co m pa n y bo ss Federico Minoli admits the issua nce w as forced o n Ducati by th e ci rc um stances of the Moto Guzzi auction . "The terms of our b an k f inancing d i d n 't pe rmit us to m ov e quickly to clinch the Guzzi deal. even though ours was the best offer: he says . "Were still looking to expa nd our p roduct range th roug h acq uisitio n , though we don't ye t have any specific target in m ind. But when a deal comes up, we wan t to be able to move much faster, and th at' s why we're prepared to suffer the extra percentage point in interest -rate charges tha t this bond issue costs us, co m pared to bank debt. It' s an inves tment for the futu re: Thi s therefore begs the question as to wh ich company D u cati w ill be looking to acqu ire in com ing months - and what type of product it will be making. With no other European cruiser/custo m manufacturer bes ides Moto Guzzi, that market segment appears to be blocked fo r them via acquisition - even though the capacity for significant growth in the crucial U.S . ma rket is geared to such products . That being so, expect Ducati to start loo k ing more closely at the dirt bike ma rket - in which case , what could make better sense than a merger with KTM, itself looking for an outside partner and still eager to expand its product mix? Don 't bet against it! Ducati's 748 • a surprisingly strong seller. " :fa cast your vote, lag an to http:/ /www.cy clenews .cam. cyclenews.com reader poll question of the week Do you think that the opening round of the AMA ational Motocross Series, or any National event for that matter, should be held on Mother's Day? A. Yes B. No 88 MAY 3 1 , 2000' e y e • e C. Does"' matter. neVIl's