Power Wheels Magazine A Notch Above
In 2012, My wife Shawie and I attended the Asia Ducati Week in Kuala Lumpur and had a truly grand time. We went with several Malaysian Ducatisti to the City of Malacca for a Heritage Ride; toured the Ducati Corse race team paddocks during the Motorcycle Grand Prix (MotoGP) practice; personally met with then-Ducati Corse riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden; and watched the MotoGP races in the air-conditioned Ducati Suite at the Paddock Village inside the Sepang International Circuit.
On the Monday after the MotoGP race weekend, I joined the Ducati Riding Experience (DRE) and rode the then newly-launched 2012 Ducati 848 Streetfighter and 1199 Panigale S at Sepang. After several days of two-wheel fun and Italian riding bliss, I could not help but become a Ducatista myself. Or at least, I was beginning to feel like one…
The author after riding the 2012 Ducati 848 Streetfighter around the Sepang International Circuit…
… and on the 1199 Panigale S leaving the pit lane going into the racing circuit.
Right after the DRE and after meeting up with multiple motorcycle champion and racing legend Troy Bayliss for the second time (I first interviewed him in 2010), I was aching very badly to buy myself a Ducati. And I wanted not just any Ducati – I wanted to have Troy Bayliss’s Ducati, especially the Panigale S that he rode so well around Sepang. That would be ideal – a red Panigale S that Troy played with on a race track that I shared with him, no less! It’s a bonus to have the gas tank signed by him and by the great Loris Capirossi, who we also shared track time with. Yeah, baby!
Australian motorcycle racer, MotoGP race winner and World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss
The author hams it up with the motorcycle racing legend in 2010…
… and rides the Ducati Riding Experience in Sepang together in 2012.
Just then, my wife snapped me back to reality: “Wake up, honey. We’re about to land in Manila.” Darn, it was all just a dream. Thankfully, when we got home, I realized that I already have Troy’s racing bikes. In fact, I have two of them: The first one is a 2001 Ducati 998 S, a production motorbike that is a replica of Troy’s Ducati 996 S race bike that won the 2001 Superbike (SBK) World Championship.
The other bike I have that Troy once rode is the 2006 Ducati Desmosedici RR GP6, which features a four-stroke V4 Desmodromic motor and one of the most innovative components of the time – carbon ceramic disc brakes. Ducati recalled Bayliss from the World Superbike series, where he was recently crowned World Champion, to replace injured Ducati Corse rider Sete Gibernau, and Troy handily won the 2006 Valencia MotoGP with Capirossi in 2nd place to make a Ducati 1-2 finish.
Now, before you try to hatch a plan to steal these million-peso collectible Ducati racing motorcycles from me, please note that I bought these cheap… Aah, because these are New-Ray 1:12 scale die-cast models. If you were misled to think that they were the real bikes, it’s because they are so well-made that they really look like the actual 998 S and Desmosedici RR GP6 race bikes – if not for the large screws holding the fairings to the frame on each bike, that is.
These New-Ray 1:12 scale model bikes retail for less than P500 fresh, boxed, and brand-spanking-new. Parking them is a snap (they fit on top of a shelf) and they don’t require any maintenance except for the occasional dusting. There’s absolutely no need for the Ducati Corse team mechanic to fly-in (especially during quarantine) and perform a tune-up and general check-up on these racing bikes. Ah, to try becoming a Ducatista… it’s not as expensive as you may think!
To see other stories of different scale model vehicles that we have posted here in the Power Wheels website, please click “The Rack” button on the header bar near the top right of your screen (if you’re using a PC, laptop or tablet), or type “The Rack” on the Search bar if you’re using a mobile phone. Tomorrow, we’ll see if you really know your Italian superbikes.
