"With the purpose of getting more attention from the race loving audience for the recent introduced 750 CC V-twin, Ducati announced the Factory's re-entering of Grand Prix racing with the 500 CC version of the 750 CC V-Twin. The factory racer will be attending all Italian events plus a couple of selected Grand Prix races. Remarkable is the fact that the 500 CC engine is placed in a frame designed by Colin Seeley!

The re-entry of Ducati in the Grand Prix racing was officially announced in a press conference in London last January by the CEO Arnoldo Milvio. He said that "the main purpose was not to win events but to show that the construction of a V-twin was good, and to stimulate our 750 CC standard bike".

Exactly 5 weeks after the press conference the London based race specialist Colin Seeley finished the first frame for the 500 CC racer. The British Ducati Importer Vic Camp brought it personal to the Factory in Italy. On the Factory Ducati's chief-constructor Fabio Taglioni (the man behind famous machines as the 125 CC Desmo Ducati's which were raced by Mike Hailwood, Luigi Taveri, Alberto Gandosi and Sammy Miller) developed the past few Winter Months the 500 CC race-twin. Specifications of the bike are kept secret but at the press conference in London Taglioni said that current prestations (power) was 60 bhp and the end goal would be 70 bhp.

With these prestations (power) Ducati won't challenge the almighty MV Agusta, but will challenge the Kawasaki triples and the Linto, Paton and Seeley racers.

In constructing the frame Colin Seeley tried to keep the engine as low as possible without compromising on specific Seeley details -light, strong, easy to ride- 

In rough lines the construction of the Ducati frame is similar to Seeley's G50 racers. The double constructed frame of Reynolds 531 pipes makes a bridge construction, underneath where the V-Twin partly hangs in-between. The construction of the bearing of the rear- and front fork is extra stiff.

The short Front fork is a Seeley product, the famous Norton fork. The size of the wheels is 18 inch. The fueltank is made of Aluminum and has royal space for the riders knees.

The factory aims at a total weight of 125 kg, what will make the Ducati lightest multi-cylinder racer in the 500 CC class. The low weight plus the small frontal space will make the V-Twin an important contender.

The first machine will be ridden by Factory rider Bruno Spaggiari, hopeful is though, that Ducati announced to make a series of 10 of these racers which will be available to importers everywhere in the world. Later the Factory wants to set up a production series of the V-Twin, this is still future music"

Cheers, Ron Verweij
Ron Verweij [[email protected]]