Jerry's got a new bike!

Ducati 999RS 2004

A while back, I visited Barni in Verona to look at a 999F06 - here. I was negotiating to buy the bike, but sadly it didn't happen. At the same time, Barni was selling an '04 bike that was supposed to have been ridden by Lanzi, but with no providence. The bike eventually sold to a local collector.

Last year, I was given the chance to buy the bike, but with no idea what it had done during it's career, I wasn't too enthusiastic, but talking it over with some good friends, we agreed that it was still a 999RS and the last of the truly special RS'. So I committed to the purchase.

The only thing we knew was that it was sold, new, from Ducati Corse to a British guy - Frank Bird. The frame number gave us that. It went back to the factory at the end of the season and was sold at the end of '05 to Spring Racing for the '06 FIM Endurance Championship.

So starting with the information we had, I talked to John Hackett, who told me that Frank Bird was PBM - Paul Bird Motorsport. In '04, PBM ran a 999 in BSB for the MonsterMob team with Sean Emmett on board. Sean won two races on the bike at Brands Hatch and Thruxton and would have won both Thruxon races, but for a mistake at the line.

BSB pictures by Guy Cope

In 2005, PBM went back to Hondas and sold the bike back to Ducati and the trail went cold. No-one could tall me what it did in '05.

It seemed like I'd never be able to find out what the bike did in 2005. I just could not believe that the factory would have a bike sat on the shelf for a year, but since a lot of the Corse record are incomplete, no-one at the factory could tell me. Until six months later, I thought of my buddy Stefano Caracchi. Stefano ran SC Caracchi with Nannelli on the 749RS' fro '05 onwards. Along with the bikes, Stefano inherited Lorenzo Lanzi, who was still contracted to Ducati. Lanzi rode a 999RS for the 2005 World Superbike Championship and I spoke to him about it. "For sure, this is Lanzi's bike. We spoke to the factory and they said 'yes, this is a good bike. It won races in BSB'.

Pretty cool! Lanzi won two races that year. One riding for Xerox, standing in for an injured (Laconi) rider, and one for SC Caracchi at Magny Cours. Looking at all the press from the time, Lanzi was on a special factory bike and in fact, one of the Corse mechanics confirmed it, saying that he was part of a team that went with the bike to Magny Cours. It would have been nice to have a race winner, but, hey, you can't have everything.

At Magny Cours, with Xerox sponsorship

But Stefano, this bike looks just like yours - different logos, but the same frame, tank, dash. 'For sure, it's the same chassis, but a new motor'. So, this bike won at MC? 'Yes'. So it's a race winning BSB bike and a race winning WSB bike - fantastic!
The bike has had a hard life since it left Team Spring (which later became team Barni) and was leased by privateer racers in the CIV - the Italian Championship. It's been mechanically looked after, but it's looking a little rough.

... more to come - off to walk the dog.