THE BIKES THAT RULED THE WORLD...
Without wanting or needing to be all misty eyed and nostalgic about the era, there’s no getting away from the fact the early Noughties was a chapter of superbike racing that was never seen before, or has since. In order for manufacturers to take full advantage of the 1000cc V-Twin rule, they produced pumped-up “homologation special” bikes – and they didn’t hold back.
An “R” or “SP” badge in the late Nineties and early Noughties meant so much more than it does today. Then, such was the motivation to have the best possible bike from which to build a race bike from, it often meant that the engine didn’t even have the same capacity as the standard bike it was based on, never mind all the trick titanium and magnesium parts.
To dayan“SP”or“R” badge is little more than that – just a badge. For example, a Fireblade SP gets electronic suspension, a quickshifter/blipper and Brembo brake calipers over the standard Fireblade, and is firmly in its second year of production. The Panigale V4-R is in its third year of production and, granted, while it does have a different (smaller) engine capacity to differentiate it from the V4 or V4-S to conform to superbike rules, the rest of the engine internals are the same. While its posh Öhlins suspension and alloy fuel tank are nice things,they’re nothing you can’t buy off the shelf. There’s really nothing that special about todays “specials”.
Rewind 20 years and the same “R” or “SP” badge meant a lot, not least on the three bikes we managed to pull together for a couple of days. Between them, they collectively won 24 races in the 2001 Superbike World Championship. In fact, the only race that season NOT won by a Ducati 996R, Aprilia RSV Mille SP or Honda SP-1 was by Pierre Francesco Chili on the Suzuki. “Ahh,” I hear you say, that makes a total of 25 races for the season, and world superbikes race twice at every meeting. Race two of the Australian round was cancelled due to poor weather conditions, so no need to send letters of complaint.
As trips down memory lanes go, this is right up therefor me. At the time they were almost mythical, and so far out of reach that they seemed from another world. While I’ve been lucky enough since then to have ridden each of them, I’ve never been in the presence of all three at the same time,never mind being able to ride them all on the same day. At the other end of the age range, for Carl these bikes are something else;they’re legends that he’s heard of and he is a ware of their existence, but maybe not their significance. Either way, we’re both guaranteed a day to remember while Bruce spends time praying nothing happens to any of them…
DUCATI 996R
WORDS> CARLOS
Everyone remembers how they got into bikes, don’t they? Because I sure do. You see, my love of bikes came off the back of this stunning red beast that used to sit pampered at home in our garage – or, as it was properly known, my dad’s 916.
From as early as I can remember, it was literally the best thing in the world. You could hear it roar from miles away, and even just being able to sit on it in the garage was a proper treat. I fell in love with it, which was fairly handy because I’m pretty sure that my dad loved the bike about as much (or more) than he loved me. But then again, who can blame him? When we’re talking about the 916, 996 and 998 range of Dukes, I still don’t think there’s a more iconic range of machines on this planet today – or where two wheels are concerned, anyway. So, when the call came in that we were putting together this utterly bonkers three-bike test, I threw my hat in the ring for the Duke straight away.
A chance like this, to ride a pukka 996R, doesn’t come along all too often, and this was an opportunity I wanted to make the very most of. It was a proper ‘pinch yourself’ moment to find myself swinging a leg over a bike that took back the title from Honda on its very first attempt (sorry John) in the very capable hands of Troy Bayliss. And like we said, this was a time when world superbikes ruled the roost. It was a golden era, and a time when manufacturers threw everything they had at these homologation specials.
“I THREW MY HAT IN THE RING FOR THE DUKE STRAIGHT AWAY.”
When I look at the modern-day racing specials like the Panigale Rs, ZX-10RRs, R1MS and Fireblade SPs of the world, I always think they are fairly edgy and extreme, yet compared to what the manufacturers used to throw at these bikes to make ‘em race weapons as standard, makes the modern editions look like a drop in the ocean. And in my eyes, the 996R was a perfect example of Ducati, pulling out all the stops, to, well, push the rulebook as far as it could go.
I mean, let’s just start with the name. Sure, it was called the 996R and had the same chassis as the standard model, but it really was a whole different animal. Thanks
