NUMEROUNO
“IT WAS THE FIRST TIME DUCATI HAD WON ANYTHING BIG SINCE THE 125 GPS IN THE LATE 1950S”
AFTER winning 14 World Superbike titles in 26 years, and now once again competitive in MotoGP, Ducati’s standing in top-level motorcycle racing is something we take for granted. But before 1972, the Bologna factory, then owned by the Italian government, had zero big-bike credibility, known instead as a producer of small-capacity singles.
Paul Smart’s Imola 200 race victory on April 23, 1972 — on a desmo-equipped version of the just-released GT750 roadbike — changed all that. By winning the first major Formula 750 200-miler held outside the USA, the British rider not only put Ducati on the map, he also kick-started a benchmark of 90-degree desmo V-twins that has never been broken, all the way through to Chaz Davies’ 2016 SBK Panigale R.
The win was a big
