The three stool legs of Ducati’s success
EUROPEAN MOTORCYCLE FANS KNOW THE DUCATI bevel twin legend was forged by great men in the heat of two battles – Paul Smart at Imola in 1972 and Mike Hailwood on the Isle of Man in 1978. Magnificent achievements, even though both riders were hired guns on race-ready factory machinery. Either rider would have been happy on another bike; Paul’s wife Maggie famously committed him to Imola and Mike had been turned down by Honda before he agreed to the Sports Motorcycle ride. Everyone involved had an eye on generating bankable publicity or a pay cheque. Not that there’s anything wrong with that – we all have to earn a crust.
What some forget is that the stool the bevel twin legend sits upon has a third leg – Cycle magazine’s editor and occasional racer Cook Neilson’s win at Daytona in 1977, on a home-brewed 750SS. Given that this happened in the world’s largest marketplace, it was perhaps even more valuable to Ducati than the Imola or TT wins.
Perhaps you’ve not heard of Neilson (pronounced Nelson) or maybe he’s a hero of yours, especially if you love bevel Ducati twins. What very few people know
