VOLUME ISSUE JANUARY , P119
The rear brake caliper, originally
aluminum, was remade in mag-
nesium. Morris Mag wheels were
also purpose-built, and the alumi-
num discs were plasma-sprayed,
providing a tougher surface that
better withstood heat. The front
brake caliper even had to be
sourced from Japan (borrowed,
as it were, from a Honda)!
The Superbike class was still
more of a halftime show in AMA
professional road racing in the
70's. Kenny Roberts, Gary Nixon,
Steve Baker and other legends
were still the stars of the show
on their works machines. The
production-based Superbike
class was still being sorted out—
as were the rules of engagement.
Neilson admitted the Ducati had
"some interesting parts, which
the AMA was uninformed of
[and] that was fine with us!"
The Cycle effort had finished a
strong third in the 1976 Daytona
Superbike race, with Neilson trail
-
ing Steve McLaughlin and Reg
Pridmore in the main event. Twelve
months later, the duo had honed
the machine into winning form and,
according to Cycle News, second
place wasn't even close.
"Neilson was running two
seconds a lap faster than anyone
else in practice," wrote CN. "The
Ducati, which made 90.4 horse
-
power on C.R. Axtel's dyno in Cali-
fornia, was the lightest and best-
handling machine in the race."
When the green flag fell, future
champion Wes Cooley led, whip-
ping every pretty pony from his
massive Yoshimura Kawasaki
1000. Neilson and Cooley battled
briefly, but the Ducati rider took
the lead for good on lap two of
the race. An event described by
Cycle News as "the usually-close
Superbike Production class" was
now a one-man show, as Neilson
and the bike (which would soon
be known as "The California Hot
Rod") Desmo-ed their way to vic
-
tory. Cook probably had enough
time to light a cigarette and sip a
Johnnie Walker Blue before sec-
ond-place David Emde crossed
the line, a full 30 seconds later.
Nearly 30 years later, Neilson
reflected on the Daytona win as
something of a watershed mo
-
ment for Ducati. "I think that if
that had been its only success,
nobody would've cared. The fact
that Ducati went on to compete
at the highest level, internation
-
ally and in this country, makes
what we did more viable. I
consider myself lucky to have
stumbled upon this motorcycle
at Bridgehampton Raceway."
CN
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Reg Pridmore (163) leads
Ducati-mounted Cook
Neilson in the Superbike
Production class at Daytona
in 1976. Neilson took the
win a year later.
