TRICOLORE GRORY 2008 DUCATI 1098S
It seems like a lifetime ago now, but once upon a time I used to be half decent on a motorbike and in 2011 I found myself racing a pretty trick Ducati 1098R for a top team in the British Superstock Championship. It was a difficult season (for reasons that we needn’t go into), but I did fall ever so slightly in love with the 1098R. Once we had got the thing set up the way we needed it, it was truly one of the best bikes I think I have ever ridden on a circuit – everything came so easily on it and the results weren’t too bad either (provided it managed to get to the end of the race without its gearbox pooing itself). It is with extremely fond memories I reminisce about my days racing in BSB, but I’m pushing 30 now and (as Dangerous Bruce and Frodo keep telling me) the pork pies and pints haven’t been kind to me, not to mention the years. But how have the years wearied the 1098, I wonder? It’s 12 years since the first ones appeared on road and the race track and although they were considered pretty cutting-edge back then, things have moved quite considerably on (especially in the Ducati camp).
Luckily for us, our mate, Steve Southwell has just bought a 1098S and
