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December/January2011 #47 DESMOPHILES

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REGIONAL CONTACTS Auckland Chris (Haldane M/C’s) 09-303-0624 Wayne Lyons 027-4728-343 Waikato Heath (Hamilton M/C) 07-849-1919 Garry Robinson 07-855-9370 Manawatu Trevor Smart 027 727 1883 Hawkes Bay Nigel Taylor & Claire Miller 027-828-9355 Wellington Todd (Motomart) 0800DUCATI Chris Marer 027-447-4299 Motueka Richmond Grant 03-528-0086 Nelson Greg Monahan 021-851-916 Marlborough Graham McDonald 03-578-2490 Christchurch Craig (Casbolts M/C) 03-366-4401 Phil (Desmocycle) 03-344-1916 Dunedin/Deep South Gary Winter 03-476-7515 021-206-9866

the above members and also the

Ducati Dealer Network are a very good way to find out more about the club.

DESMOPHILES

The Newsletter of DOCNZ

Ducati Owners Club of

NEW ZEALAND

December / January 2010 Issue 47

COMMITTEE PRESIDENT Chris Marer 027-447-4299 SECRETARY Nigel Taylor 027-828-9355 TREASURER Nick Brandon 021-974-487 EDITOR / PUBLISHER Tony Cottle 021-850-509 WEBMASTER / EMAIL COORDINATOR Nigel Haworth SOUTH ISLAND EVENT COORDINATOR Stu Jordan 0220337414 NORTH ISLAND EVENT COORDINATOR Tim Campbell 027-372-5869 Brendan Marshall 021-335-322

All Magazine contributions and Membership Enquiries to:

DOCNZ P.O. Box 91-612 Auckland 1142 NEW ZEALAND

Email: secretary@docnz.co.nz

www.docnz.co.nz

4 EDITOR’S SAY

Hello All Well the Tourismo is on us as well as the AGM. I will be stepping down as Editor to give a more enthusiastic club member a chance to put their mark on the club. The club is about to go through a change as Ducati has told us that we need to change our logo as part of keeping us up to date with the branding wanted by the factory. Over the last 6 months or so the committee have been working hard to sort this issue out and I have had a sneak preview of what is to come (looks fantastic) We will be required to change all of our branding so that means new regalia so put your thinking caps on (what do you want to wear or have that has the club logo on it ) so this means any of the old gear will become a collec-tors item as the club has been going just short of 10 years. We will have our old regalia at the AGM for those people that want to have mementos of the original logo. If you are thinking that you want to do the club mag is fairly easy to drive the program as I have done it so that means any of you guy’s can do it, so have a think about what you can do for your club and we’ll see you all at the AGM/Tourismo. I would like to say to all the Mainlanders that have been affected by the movements of Mother Nature lately, I hope you are all safe and well and on behalf of the club members I wish you the best and remember we are here to help, even if you need a place to stay to have a holiday I’m sure there are members that will help out . Ciao Tony

5 AGM2011

DOCNZ 2011 AGM We have booked Dusky Lodge in Kaikoura for the night of Saturday 12th March 2011 for the AGM. It’s on Sate Highway 1 between Picton and Christchurch so you can’t miss it. We are holding this AGM to coincide with the first night of Turismo 2011 as we see this as an opportunity to have the maximum number of members turn up in one place at one time. This was a format that worked well for this years NDR2010 and may be adopted for future AGM’s. This is your club so you decide how you would like it to be run. The AGM will start at 4.00 pm which should give people a chance to have a bit of relaxa-tion after the ride there. We will try and keep the meeting short and sweet so can move onto drinks/dinner and getting Turismo 2011 underway.

Items to consider will include the election of office holders, the venue for NDR2012, which has nominally been set town for Wanaka, but we do need someone to take owner-ship of this event. There is also the proposed Turismo 2013 in the North Island to dis-cuss. Additionally Ducati have requested we no longer use the current winged DOCNZ

If you wish to attend, but have not already booked for Turismo 2011 or are not fortunate enough to come on the Turismo, please book directly with the Lodge or any one of the other motels, lodges or hotels that are lo-cated along Beech Road in Kaikoura. If you haven’t been to our AGM before please don’t be put off by the formal “AGM” title – it’s a reasonably relaxed event and we try to keep the formalities to a minimum. There is good off road parking at the Lodge, It’s a great ride there whether you are coming from North, South or West. We have the whole complex to ourselves and it’s a great place to be.

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logo as part of our club regalia (this request applies to all clubs with traditional and cur-rent Ducati brands) so we have an opportunity to lend a bit of our own Kiwi identity to something new; suggestions welcome. Please note you need to be full current financial members of DOCNZ to express your voting rights so please renew your memberships on the form at the back of the maga-zine. Ferry bookings for North Island members can be done through Blue Bridge or The Interislander using the following concession codes Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferry Service We have set up your bluebridge discount concession for your groups March rally as follows: Concession Code: EVT97 Concession name: Ducati Motorcycle Rally – March 2011 Valid Dates of travel: March 7th – 25th 2011 Discount: $38.00 each way per person, $35.00 each way per bike INTERISLANDER RATES QUOTED FOR: Ducati Owners Club of NZ FA5461 The below rates are based on one way travel, prices to date, inclusive of GST and subject to availability. Off-Peak Fares: Each Way Adult $38.00 Motorcycle $35.00

Dusky Lodge 67 Beach Road Kaikoura New Zealand Phone 03 3195959 Fax 03 3196929 Ph: +64 3 319 5959 Fax: +64 3 319 6929 Email info@duskylodge.com

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PRESIDENTS PRATTLE

Hi All, 2011 and January is gone all ready!! Seems like just the other I was discussing with the wife what to do for the Christmas holidays!! Well we did decide what to do for Christmas….down to the mother in-laws for a big Christmas with 20 or so others from the extended family & all their kids!! A great day had by all & yes, like everyone else, we all ate & drank too much. But one good thing about Christmas is that, like night follows day, the next day is Boxing Day. Wanganui Cemetery Circuit here we come!! Thankfully my wife understands my passion for bikes & is happy for me to go. Took the NCR down at the local petrol station to meet up with a few mates & off we went, taking a very different and interesting route this year, keeping off the traffic & cop infested state highways as much as possible. We arrived in time to see one of the last practice sessions & unfortunately one of the many crashes that blighted the event this year. On the positive side, there was some great & close racing across all the fields.

Two encounters on the day stood out for me. The first was seeing John Woodley, a legend of the in-ternational & New Zealand motor-cycle racing from the seventies, he was tearing around on a 1000cc MV Agusta 312RR like he was a 20yr old, not 60yrs he is. I tracked him down in the pits for a chat. You see the first time I actually met & talked to John was at riders briefing for the 1981 Castrol 6 Hour, it was his last serious bike race in his il-lustrious career. I was a 20yr old taking part in my first serious bike race! I asked him why was he, after 30 yrs. having another go at it? “Passion” he said, “once it’s in your blood it never leaves” I can relate to that I said, he laughs. I wish him well & “see you in another 30 yrs”. The second was catching up with the equally passionate Italian Su-permotard rider Davide Gozzini, No2 in world champs in 2010. Hav-ing been lucky enough to go to Italy on a number of occasions & always been shown great hospitality, I thought it was only fair to return the favour. After some brief introduc-tions I discover that he & his fellow Motard rider Andrea Occhini had just finished the European champs then went to Perth & Melbourne to clean up the Aussie champs, then finally coming to NZ for the tri-series. What you have to under-

PRESreport

8 PRESREPORT cont

stand is that Italians, as a rule, don’t venture to far from home. It is rare to see them outside of Europe let alone all the way down here!! Well done those boys. Soon enough it was time to head home, retracing our steps from ear-lier in the day, a great day had by all. New Year’s Day 8.25am The Inter-islander ferry departs Wellington, my wife, daughter & I are heading down to Nelson to visit my side of the family. It’s my 3yr olds first trip on the ferry & is absolutely loving it, all the big waves & especially the on board magician entertaining the little ones. One of the main reasons

we are heading down there is that on the 2nd of January is the annual “Port Nelson Street Races”. The big finale to this event is the final race “The King of The Port”, The winner of this gets presented the “Alistair Marer Memorial Trophy”. The inaugural winner of this is none other than the late great Robert Holden (I came distant second, and the next year bugger it) This trophy was donated by our family as a way to remember my brother Alis-tair, who was a very keen & bloody fast motorcycle racer in his own right, before his passing nearly 20yrs ago. So we decided to have a bit of a family reunion, day out at

9 PRESREPORT cont

the races sort of thing. Another fact is that two other DOCNZ members have a huge input into this event, Nick (my brother) is the president of the Nelson Road Race Associa-tion & Andy Watson (yep Andy of AB’s Ducati in Nelson) Event or-ganiser. So to say we have strong links to this event is an understate-ment. A great day out with some great racing. If you ever get the chance to get along Nelson at New Year’s…….I could think of worse places to be. Now onto club matters; as you may read elsewhere in this issue the committee is in the final stages of a redesign of our club logo. It is going to have a kiwi flavour, a Ducati fla-vour and an Italian flavour & will be announced in the near future. Our AGM is coming up on the 12th March in Kaikoura, so if you would like to have some say in how your club runs, come along & don’t be shy to add your 2 cents worth. And of course Turismo 2011 is in the final stages of organisation, so if you haven’t got your stead all ser-viced & freshly rubbered, best you get onto it!! Whilst on the subject of Turismo I have added another toy to the Marer shed…one of those new Multistrada 1200 thingy me’s…….yeah having ridden one in Italy last June really made an im-

pression on me & Todd at Mo-tomart me “a deal I could not re-fuse” so I’m really looking forward to Turismo now!! See you all out there. Ciao Chris

10 SECSREPORT

Greetings to all Firstly I would like to wish every one a prosperous New Year; I know it’s been tough out there for some over the last 12 months. Life in the Taylor/Miller household is as busy as ever especially with the impending AGM and Turismo 2011 to keep on top of. For the AGM: anyone who may be attending this but not going on to Turismo 2011 is welcome to stay after the AGM and share the eve-ning meal and Turismo briefing; can I just request that you let me know if this will be the case so I can organise meal numbers. I will send out a follow up email that you can respond to. We have had to develop a new logo this at Ducati’s behest; this has been in the pipeline for a while and everyone was given an opportunity to dream something up, however as no suggestions were forthcoming the committee decided to exercise its power, as a benevolent dictator would, and made the decision for you. There was some voting in-volved. If anyone has anything they want to discuss at the AGM can you please let me know soonest. For Turismo 2011: can I ask that everyone coming on this

wonderful adventure please con-firm your accommodation book-ings. The lists we have sent back from some of the places show that not all are booked but follow ups reveal that those not on the list are booked so the info we are get-ting back would appear to be a bit flaky. It may be that some book-ings have not been associated with DOCNZ. Ultimately it is up to the individual members to ensure they have accommodation book-ings made and confirmed. If any of you have special dietary needs please convey these to either Stu or myself. The meals are buffet format and we will let the estab-lishments know what we want, this has mostly worked in the past. For one fun part of the Xmas holi-days check out The Secretary’s Summer Adventure elsewhere in the mag. Cheers for now Nigel

11 NO STEAK KNIVES incl

12 GP11 info

DUCATI DESMOSEDICI GP11 Technical Specifications

liquid-cooled, 90 degree V4 four-stroke, desmodromic DOHC, four valves per-

cylinder. 799cc Maximum power: more than 200hp peed: in excess of 310 kph/192 mph Transmission: Six-speed cassette-type gearbox, with alternative gear ratios available. Dry multiplate slipper clutch. Chain final drive. Indirect Magneti Marelli electronic injection, four throttle bodies with injectors above butterfly valves. Throttles operated by EVO TCF (Throttle Control & Feedback) sys-tem.uel: Shell Racing V-Power Lubricant: Shell Advance Ultra 4 Ignition: Magneti Marelli Exhaust: Termignoni Final Drive: Regina Chain Öhlins upside-down 48mm front forks and Öhlins rear shock absorber, adjustable for preload, compression and rebound damping.res: Bridgestone 16.5" front and reara Brembo, two 320mm carbon front discs with four-piston callipers. Single stainless steel rear disc with two-piston callipers.

Dry weight: 150kg

13 Here is your opportunity to make your magazine work for you. Comments, sugges-tions, feedback and questions all welcome. BY DA B ROSSI 2011

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15 TRESREPORT cont p18

Treasurer’s Report               January 2011 

Below is a summary of income and expenses for the period 1 – 31 December 2010 which is the last month of our financial year. 

 A full set of accounts will be available for the AGM on 12 March at Kaikoura.  Sub‐ject to discussion amongst the members attending, I believe that we may need to increase subs slightly to take account of cost increases arising from the increase in GST to 15%.   Speaking of the AGM, I will also be suggesting some changes to the way we manage the accounts in future as our current arrangements are less than ideal now that the committee live in four different cities.  We need to be able to make greater use of internet banking which is a bit limited by the current need for two signatures for the cheque account.  I will explain this in more detail at the AGM. 

I was interested to see reported in the media that ACC have at least listened to some of what they were told at the select committee hearing on ACXC levies about methods of lowering motorcycle accident rates.  A com‐mittee has been set up with Gareth Morgan & others co‐opted on to provide practical suggestions on how to improve our chances of surviving or suffering less seri‐ous injuries.  If you have a smart idea make sure you get heard – this could be our last chance before they apply the philosophy of “bigger levy = less bikers” approach.  

  Cheque account  Savings accou

Balance of account as at 30 Nov 2010  $      5,694.26  $  15,267.58 

Less expenses for the period 1 Dec – 31 Dec 2010  $       (330.00)   $         00.00 

Add income for the period 1 Dec – 31 Dec 2010   $     1,050.00   $         45.38 

Closing Balance 31 Dec 2010   $     6,414.26  $  15,312.96 

16 SUPER BIKE CALENDER2011

Dates Grand Prix Circuit Superbike Supersport Superstock

February 27 Australia Phillip Island X X

March 27 Europe Donington X X

April 17 The Nether-lands

Assen X X X

May 8 Italy Monza X X X

May 30 (Monday)

United States

Miller Mo-torsport Park

X

June 12 San Marino Misano X X X

June 19 Spain Motorland Aragon

X X X

July 10 Czech Re-public

Brno X X X

July 31 Great Britain Silverstone X X X

September 4 Germany Nürburgring X X X

September 25

Italy Imola X X X

October 2 France Magny-Cours X X X

October 16 Portugal Portimão X X X

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Date Grand Prix Circuit

March 20th Qatar* Losail

April 3rd Spain Jerez

April 24th Japan Motegi

May 1st Portugal Estoril

May 15th France Le Mans

June 5th Catalunya Barcelona

June 12th Great Britain Silverstone

June 25th Netherlands** Assen

July 3rd Italy Mugello

July 17th Germany Sachsenring

July 24th United States*** Laguna Seca

August 14th Czech Republic Brno

August 28th Indianapolis Indianapolis

September 4th San Marino & Riviera di Rimini

Misano

September 18th Aragon MotorLand Aragon

October 16th Australia Phillip Island

October 23rd Malaysia Sepang

November 6th Valencia Valencia

MOTOGPCALENDER 2011 ish

18 TRESREPORT cont

DUCATI SPECIALIST Dave McDonald

NZ agent for ‘Vee-Two’ performance parts Bel-Ray and Penrite Motorcycle Oils Over 20 years Ducati experience and

expertise! Bevel Drive and

Belt Drive Two Valves a specialty 28-30 Joseph St

Palmerston North 027-682-7083

You can approach ACC directly or via one of the representatives below. 

The Motorcycle Safety Levy Advisory Council

members appointed are:

• Gareth Morgan, Chairperson

• Paul Searancke, Deputy Chairperson

(Commissioner: Recreation/Leisure of Motorcy-

cling New Zealand)

• Peter McIntosh (President Ulysses

Club of NZ Inc)

• Yvonne Forrest (Representative of

Women’s International Motorcycle Association)

• Bill Grice (former Chairman of the

Motor Industry Association Motorcycle Division)

• Brent Hutchison (President of Welling-

ton branch of Bikers Rights Organisation of NZ)

• Jess Corbett (Representative of Scoot

NZ and the NZ Classic Scooter Club)    

In the meantime ‐ keep the rubber side down. 

 

Nick Brandon 

19 WANGANUI 2010

Cemetery Circuit 2010, by Lynda Blair As most of you will probably know, every Boxing Day they run road races around the streets of Wanganui. It’s been going for around 58 years and I’ve been to quite a few (not going to say when I first went as then you’ll know how ancient I am!). 2010 was no exception. We packed up the car early Christmas morning (yes, the car…we had a lot of stuff to take up and were carrying on up north to see my family) and headed to Wan-gas. When we got to Wanganui we called in to see Brian Bernard. Brian is an ex racer (very successful both in NZ and in the US - he has a wall full of tro-phies) who since retiring has most years brought in overseas riders for our summer series. This year he “imported” Andrew Nelson from Can-ada, and Dan Stauffer from Australia, riding Yamaha R1s. We had a cuppa and wished them Merry Christmas, then we headed to the track. There was also a contingent of Austra-lians over for the racing, including Dar-ren Love on his 1198. I’d met most of the other Aussies last year, but Darren and Shane Robinson (Suzuki GSXR 1000) were both here for the first time. They are really nice guys, and it’s good for our racing to have them over here. We called in to their motel to wish them a Merry Christmas, and

there was the added bonus of the Ital-ian Supermotard riders being at the same motel too. There was also one special ex-pat Kiwi who came back to race…you may have heard of John Woodley. He was one of three Marlborough brothers (John, Jock and Bruce) who started racing back in the late 70s and into the 80s. John in particular did a lot of rac-ing overseas, and was a top class GP rider on an RG500. John has been living in Australia for a long time, and he’d decided during 2010 to get back into racing after 30 years away from the track. He brought over his beauti-ful MV Agusta F4 and it was fantastic to see him back on the track. He’s a really lovely guy and despite being over 60 and not having raced for three decades, he showed some of the lads the lines! We like to spend Christmas afternoon at scrutineering, as we know a lot of the people racing and it’s a good chance to catch up with everyone without the pressure of it being race day. It was an enjoyable afternoon, then we headed to our motel and had tea and an early night - it was going to be an early start on Boxing Day. We left the motel at 6.15am, as we help out our mate Peter Tanner who races an Aprilia RSVR. We spent most of the day with Peter in the pits, so we only watched the racing when he was out in the BEARS and Super-

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bike classes. Peter did well in the BEARS races and was right up the pointy end. There were quite a few crashes during the day. Shane, the Australian, fell heavily coming onto the railway over-bridge and badly broke his upper arm and his femur. The second Superbike race had to be started three times. The first two starts saw three bikes crash in turn one of the first lap. The second crash resulted in Australian Robbie Bugden breaking both bones in his lower leg. Robbie has been our NZ Superbike champion three times and has vowed to be back for the first round of our NZ Champs on the 29th/30th January. The Superbike racing was great. Dan Stauffer had never seen the track be-fore but ended up taking a wad of prize money back home. Dan and An-drew Stroud had some ding-dong bat-tles, but Dan was in front when the chequered flag came out. Peter did his best in the Superbike races, but the RSVR is way down on power com-pared to the 180-200HP superbikes. Wanganui was the third round of the annual Tri Series. The previous two meetings were held back-to-back weekends at Hampton Downs and Manfeild. Peter had a fall in his first BEARS race at HD, which meant over-all in the series he was third. John Ross on the BMW won every race,

and Joel Reed from Australia on the Aprilia V4 took overall second place. No Ducatis took the podium, but there were some lovely ones racing. Darren from Australia was involved in one of the crashes in the Superbike race, so his bike is a little worse for wear but he was okay. Nick Prestidge had his new 1098 race bike out for the first time and he was also involved in one of the crashes. The bike wasn’t too bad, and Nick broke his shoulder. All in all it was another Boxing Day and we’ll do it all again later this year.

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25 SUMMER ADVENTURE

The Secretary’s Summer Adventure Business over and so on to the motor-cycle ridding part. I treated myself to a short summer tour on the S2R based on a trip to Wanganui on Boxing Day that had nothing to do with the racing but everything to do with the ride and catching up with a few mates. I picked up Steve on his CBR600 at Napier and we had a leisurely but spirited ride over the Napier Taupo road. It was spoilt a bit by a plodess who escorted us into Taupo from the Rangateiki Tavern with Steve getting a constant bleeping warning on the hazardous objects detector fitted to his bike. Something else must have been more important as said plodess finally lit up the red and blue roof rack, while trav-elling along the new Taupo bypass, and headed of in the distance to at-tend to other business. We made a quick stop at Wairakei for gas before heading up Pohipi Road and on to Kinloch for a refreshment break. Next stop was Taumaranui to meet up with a couple of lads coming down from Auckland in the form of Ivan, on his 900SS and Rob on a Gladius. The four of us headed down to Wan-ganui via National Park and the Para Paras with surprisingly little traffic on the way. The Para Paras are still a lit-tle patchy in parts but have mostly

been repaired after the huge floods of a few years ago. Somewhere along here Ivan’s 900SS shims went out of spec due to his bike spending too much time commuting short distances; this resulted in some spectacular backfires that managed to frighten some wildlife from the underbrush; one quail being not very lucky as it clipped my fairing, got launched fur-ther skywards and landed in Rob’s lap. We arrived in Wanganui in time for dinner (not quail), a few drinks and a chance to catch up and chew the fat with a few others who had come in from Tauranga by other routes. The next day I headed off, by myself, back up the Para Paras, on through Taumaranui, Te Kuiti, Pirongia and on to Raglan to meet up with the rest of the family who came by car direct from Hawke’s Bay. The S2R was parked up and we spent a week in Raglan enjoy-ing a quintessential Kiwi summer holi-day involving beaches, walks, café’s, New Years eve parades, fireworks and a short spell at a rave on a farm near Ruapuke after picking up a couple of American hitch hikers who had an invi-tation to some sort of party not realis-ing it was a dance party. After all the fun it was time to head home back via Pirongia, Te Kuiti and then of down SH30 towards Mangakino and Ata-muri, peeling back off down Pohipi Road and on to the Taupo bypass by a few back roads I have become quite familiar with through my job in Taupo and have been hanging out to try on

26 WSBK 2011

the S2R. Back down SH5 and home. The chicken strips on the BT021s are about 1/2 the size they used to be, clearly an indication that I am enjoying my ridding. Not a huge ride but one that I thoroughly enjoyed where I got to try a few new roads. It also proved to me we have a wealth of excellent, less travelled roads in the North Island that we can string together for a de-cent tour – food for thought for Tur-ismo 2013.

WSBK Phillip Island

At Imola last year, shortly after Ducati had announced it would not be entering a factory team for the 2011 World Superbike series, hardcore Ducatisti and WSBK ad-epts hung a range of banners along the front straight, with such messages as "Senza SBK, Ducati Vale Meno" and "Ducati-SBK, the 46 reasons for pulling out." The withdrawal of the factory team was widely regarded as a terrible betrayal by Ducati, which had built its reputation and much of its brand on the success of its World Superbike team, creating legends such as Carl Fogarty, Giancarlo Falappa and Troy Bayliss along the way.

On the basis of this weekend's action at Phillip Island, all may be forgiven. Carlos Checa blitzed every session except Sunday morning's wet warmup at the World Superbike opener, crown-ing the weekend with an utterly dominant double aboard the priva-teer Althea Ducati. It was exactly what the fans would have ex-pected, if the Xerox Ducati team had still been in existence.

27 WSBK 2011 cont

But Althea Ducati are privateers in name only: several members of the Ducati factory squad found places inside the Althea garage for this season, and even the livery of the bike has changed to a red-and-white scheme, strongly reminiscent of the Xerox, Fila and Infostrada colors which graced previous fac-tory bikes. Checa is said to be re-ceiving a lot of support from the factory, the difference being that the fast parts are all arriving via the back door rather than openly through the front gate. Ducati may have dropped their official factory entry, but they now have an unoffi-cial team instead.

And they've chosen the right time to make the jump: Checa rode as near a perfect weekend as it is pos-sible to ride, getting maximum use out of each session, and setting a new pole record along the way, tak-ing a quarter of a second off Regis Laconi's record from 2009. So fast was Checa's lap that it would have put him 3rd on the grid for the Mo-toGP race last October, just a tenth slower than 2010 World Champion Jorge Lorenzo (for a more detailed comparison, see the ever-informative Dennis Noyes' story over on SpeedTV.com). Now 38, the Spanish veteran has cast off some his earlier propensity for

tossing the bike into the scenery, and has the maturity to take this all the way. Checa, with the backing of the factory-lite Althea team, has staked a very serious claim for the 2011 championship at Phillip Is-land.

The Australian race threw up sev-eral more items of note. The first is that the rule changes to make the bikes resemble a little more closely the street bikes which are sup-posed to have spawned them - en-forcing standard injectors, fuel pumps, etc - have not had too much effect on the competitiveness of the Aprilia. There has been much dark muttering about the Aprilia in the paddock, with accusa-tions that it is virtually a MotoGP prototype from the critics, such cur-mudgeons then going on to sug-gest that the RSV4 would be no-where without the gear-driven cams and other parts which it used throughout 2010. Yet Max Biaggi took an uncontested 2nd place in race 1, and a more hotly contested 2nd in race 2, a vast improvement over the 5th and 8th the Italian started out his championship-winning season with in 2010.

If Biaggi is sure to be a factor again, there is no such luck for his teammate. Leon Camier is being

28 WSBK 2011 cont

examined for a suspected case of mononucleosis (Epstein-Barr, or glandular fever), which could turn into a long drawn-out nightmare for the young Briton. The typical duration of mono is some 6 to 12 months, or an entire racing sea-son, and though it is possible to function at some level with the dis-ease, sufferers tend to tire ex-tremely easily, and there are some risks associated with intensive sports. Camier finished 13th and 6th, extremely impressive given his illness. He may not be able to show his full potential all year, though.

There was much interest in the factory Yamaha team this season, and Phillip Island showed that the team could be very strong this year. Marco Melandri's adaptation from MotoGP to World Superbikes has gone swimmingly, the Italian getting on the podium in his very first race weekend. It was, he said, likely to be the first of many this season, and his progress will be watched closely by several Mo-toGP veterans, with an eye to their own futures should the rides in MotoGP dry up.

Melandri's teammate Eugene Laverty also made a strong debut in the premier class, adapting well

to the larger capacity class after spending most of his life aboard small capacity machinery in one form or another. Laverty's biggest challenge lies in adapting to the behavior of the tires with the big-ger bikes, but given his out-standing results over the past two years in World Supersport, he is looking strong for 2011.

Over at BMW, Leon Haslam more than justified the Munich factory's decision to sign the Englishman. Haslam took a podium in race 1, with his teammate Troy Corser not far behind, but the BMW's con-tinue to struggle with tire wear. The German manufacturer's insis-tence on using a self-developed electronics system may well be part of the problem, BMW refusing to take the easy route and fit Mag-neti Marelli like every other team in the paddock. The BMW is still eat-ing tires too quickly, and once the team can solve that problem, then Haslam will challenge in 2011 as he did in 2010.

Most heartening for the series as a whole is that the racing in World Superbikes was once again enter-taining, with close battles being fought out all race long for the po-dium positions. Take away an im-perious Checa, and the WSBK

29 WSBK 2011 cont

season opener would have seen a pair of genuine nail-biters kick off 2011. Checa is unlikely to manage this kind of dominance all year long, giving the fans high hopes of witnessing proper entertainment all year long.

If the racing in World Superbikes was good, it was back to classic axe-murderer style in the World Supersport series. Here, too, the rule changes have had a positive effect, with the upping of the mini-mum weight limit (by 3kg), the banning of carbon fiber fairings and limiting the riders to just a sin-gle bike in the pits - just as the Grand Prix Commission has done in Moto2 and 125 - has made the racing much cheaper, with the grid back up to a healthy 26 at Phillip

Island, well up from the miserly 17 which started in 2010.

The grid is also better balanced than in 2010, with perhaps 7 or 8 riders capable of victory this sea-son. Some 7 of those men - Fabien Foret, Chaz Davies, Sam Lowes, Broc Parkes, David Salom and Luca Scassa - battled for much of the race, with the out-come settled on the final straight and just 0.033 seconds separating the podium finishers. Even better news was the depth of manufac-turer support, with Yamaha step-ping back into the class with the ParkinGO team of Davies and Scassa, after a last-minute rupture with Triumph. The rift worked out perfectly for Scassa, the Italian taking his maiden WSS victory

30 WSBK 2011

thanks to the raw power of the YZF-R6, blasting past Lowes over the line on the Gardner Straight.

There were also strong indications that talent is quickly developing in the class. Sam Lowes, reigning British Supersport champion and just 20 years old, Chaz Davies, 24, Gino Rea, 21 and the positively ancient 27-year-old David Salom are all progressing extremely well, with Lowes making a particularly impressive debut. The youngster may be just 20, but the maturity and racecraft he showed in hold-ing off the clearly faster Yamaha of Scassa was truly remarkable. Lowes rode like a wily veteran, rather than a fresh-faced young-ster, and is yet another product of the Parkalgar team boss Simon Buckmaster's nose for spotting tal-ent.

What was less impressive was the performance of the spec Pirelli tires. At least three riders suffered fast-deflating rear tires, with Foret, Davies and Roccoli forced into the pits with flat tires. Davies went back out with a fresh rear, but was too far behind to get back into the points. Pirelli is yet to come for-ward with an explanation, but three bikes with identical problems clearly point to some kind of pro-

duction or QA problem. The point of a spec tire is to level the playing field for the riders; the spate of flats turned into a crapshoot.

The racing in both classes has whetted appetites around the world for more racing, but WSBK fans will have to wait a full four weeks before the action continues. The WSBK paddock heads back to Europe now, their next appoint-ment scheduled at Donington for March 27th. Late March in Leices-tershire can be a real gamble as far as the weather is concerned, with the chances of snow, rain or warm spring sunshine just about equal. Not unlike the weather at Phillip Island, as it happens...

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WSBK 2011

32 WSBK2011

33 CLASSIC FESTIVAL

34 Club Meetings

Auckland Headquarters Restaurant and Bar, 132 Beaumont St, Westhaven 1st Wednesday of each month from 7.30pm Hamilton Hamilton Motorcycle Centre, Te Rapa Road, Hamilton 3rd Tuesday of each month from 7.30pm Wellington The Featherston Bar and Grill, Corner Featherston & Johnston Streets, Welling-ton 3rd Tuesday of each month from 6.00pm (although Lynda is usually there from about 5.15pm) Nelson 623 In The City, Nelson 3rd Tuesday of each month from 7.30pm Christchurch Pegasus Arms on Oxford Terrace on the 1st Tuesday of the month at 7.30 pm

DISCLAIMER Unless expressly stated, the opinions and comments in this newsletter are those of the contributors only, and are not

club policy. Nor does the club guarantee any advertisers products or servicing suggestions made. Although all material is checked for accuracy, no liability is assumed by the editor or DOCNZ.

Our Advertisers and Sponsors Support Us Support them and Support your Club

Whenever you see the services of one of our advertisers (and isn't that all the time?) let them know that you saw the ad in DESMOPHILES. That way they will know that their advertising dollar is

being spent wisely. It will help your club, the service provider and above all it will help you (there may be a club member discount available).

35

DUCATI GOLD INSURANCE

A specialised tailor-made insurance package for Ducati Owners featuring:

Highly competitive rates

Sensible excess Flexible payment options

Bonus – interest free monthly payment scheme Reduced premiums

0800 helpline service for policy holders Accessories and riding gear cover

included in each policy

Phone, fax or e-mail for a no obligation quote

CASBOLTS MOTORCYCLES 39 MANCHESTER ST

CHRISTCHURCH

Ph 03-366-4401, Ph & fax 03-366-4402

E-mail sales@casbolts.co.nz

36 MOTOGIRO 2011

MOTOGIRO 2011

If you are a motorcycle enthusiast or vintage motorbike collector, if you want discover an unknown Italy, far from the usually itineraries, you must enter the MOTOGIRO. For many years it has been the event of choice for riders, enthusiasts and collectors from all over the world; who meet once a year to savour an itinerary that is organised to allow the enjoyment of riding your bike, beautiful landscapes and wonderful emotions, in the company of like minded people. Come and experience the “Made in Italy” lifestyle, a per-fect blend of food, goods, brands, tradition and personality mixed with passion and lux-ury.

NO REGISTRATION QUEUE OPTION - If you enter and pay prior to Apr. 30th you can opt to receive your documents sent directly to your home by mail. Leaving only technical inspection of your motorcycle and its documents to be completed at the event. PERSONAL MECHANIC OPTION – For those who wish to attend the event as a mechanic* rather than a rider, DE2 now offers a special dis-count package for personal mechanics. This package includes all the features and benefits of a rider package (meals, hotel, luggage transport, welcome kit and event gifts) but at substantially reduced cost – 550 euro for a shared (twin) room or 750 euro for a private room (single) *Tools and route transport to be provided by mechanic – contact DE2 for details SBK Misano Jun. 12th OPTIONAL package. If you would like to attend and experience a World Superbike race at the world famous Misano race track we are offering a complete package that makes it possible to see the races with none of the usual hassle. The details - On Saturday evening, at the end of the award dinner a bus will pick you up and take you to Cattolica where you can experience the party atmosphere typical on the eve of a Misano race. A twin room ac-commodation will be waiting for you in a four star hotel. After the in-cluded breakfast, a bus will deliver you directly inside the Misano World circuit, eliminating all confusion, lines and walking common at a large event of this type. Your ticket is included, and is valid for the grandstand and the paddock. At the end of races a bus will be waiting to take you back to Bologna. SBK package rate: early purchase discount rate of 199 euro until Feb. 28th per person. 230 euro from Mar.1st till May 15th

37 MOTOGIRO 2011 cont

Classes

Vintage Class A maximum of 120 competitors will be welcomed. Motorcycles up to 175 cc (which meet the Highway Code and are properly insured), built till 1958. Bikes have been individually selected upon the obligatory receipt of two photos (right and left sides) will be admitted. Technical commission will evaluate the eligibility of the model. In the case of non-eligibility the participant will refund the full amount. Participants in the his-torical competition will sustein ability trials during the run.

Memorial Taglioni This class is open to all models of bikes with a minimum 200cc cylinder and bikes of historic interest (at the discretion of the organization), in accordance with the Highway Code, properly insured, and built between 1968 and 1978. Bikes have been individu-ally selected upon the obligatory receipt of two photos (right and left sides) will be ad-mitted. Technical commission will evaluate the eligibility of the model. In the case of non-eligibility the participant will refund the full amount. Participants in the historical competition will sustein ability trials during the run.

Touring Super Sport To celebrate the great "success" of Italian industry and to complete the traveling mu-seum, which the Motogiro is, since 2008 the organization is proposing: the new TSS class open to motorcycles and sidecars of all makes with 250 cc cylinders, built up to 1968. Those enrolled in the TSS will participate in ability trials set aside for them and from which a special classification will be assigned.

Tourist class Open to those who own a bike of recent manufacturing and who want to live the at-mosphere of the Motogiro in a more relaxed way and at a non-competitive level. Bikes of all makes (and in accordance with the Highway Code and properly insured) are admitted and they will follow the same itinerary. Participants will be divided into groups of about 25 motorbikes and will be assigned a group leader who will serve as a guide along the route and to whom it will always be necessary to make reference.

38

For Sale – 2004 Monster Dark

620ie

– 10,500 km excellent condition

– all servicing done at Motomart

– near new tyres, luggage rack and C/F screen

– price $8,000

– ph Wendy 021 903 031 or Nick 021 974 487.

For Sale Personalized plate 851 The numbers are blue as is the frame around the plate. The plate has been fitted to a bike before but it hasn’t been drilled so looks like new $600.00 ono Phone Tony 021850509 or 07 2180460

39 Collectable Clothing

Sale now on We have a good supply of black Club t-shirts and caps , due to Ducati making us change our logo we are selling off our collectable caps and T shirts

Anyone interested please contact - secretary@docnz.co.nz

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41

I ........................................................… ...…….................................................… [first name] [surname] of ......................................................… ...........................................................… [postal address] [suburb / city] ..................................… ..................... ...........… …......................................... [postcode] [Home telephone] [Cell phone] ......................................................... (I am happy to receive Ducati related emails Y / N )

[email]

hereby apply for

Full m/ship [$50.00] Family* m/ship (family members or partners living under same roof) [$60.00] Associate m/ship (non Ducati Owner – no voting rights) [$50.00]

of the Ducati Owners Club New Zealand. In the event of my admission as a member, I agree to abide by the constitution and by-laws of DOCNZ.

I enclose payment of $....................................... by cheque made out to DOCNZ. I wish to pay by direct credit. (Our account details are: DOCNZ National Bank-Palmerston North 060746-0276337-00 Please ensure your name is included in the information. Please note that you must still send in your membership form, noting you have paid directly.)

Signature: .......................................................... Date: ............................................. Please note that memberships expire at the end of January. Applications and renewals received between November and January are registered as a membership for the following year. Particulars of motorcycle/s: ________________________________________________________________

[model and capacity] [year] [VIN / Chassis or Rego #] ________________________________________________________________

[model and capacity] [year] [VIN / Chassis or Rego #] ________________________________________________________________

assoc. [make, model & capacity] [year] [VIN / Chassis or Rego #]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OFFICE USE ONLY Cheque No ____________________ Rcvd: ___/___/___ Amt: $__________ Clearly state name on back of cheque DOCNZ Interim Membership: Received the sum of...……......... from……………….....................................being for membership renewal / application. (to January 31st 2011) Signed .................................................... on behalf of DOCNZ Committee Ducati Owners Club New Zealand. P.O.Box 91-612 Auckland 1142, NZ Email: secretary@docnz.co.nz

DOCNZMEMBERSHIP FORM

42

Perry Dunfry Nigel Taylor Jamie Littin Deb Sinclair

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Payment is due at the time of placement of advert. Club Classifieds Free classified advertising for club members is available on the DOCNZ website. Registered users can surf to www.docnz.co.nz, click the Forums link, and use the Buy/Sell/Swap forum. If you have any queries or need help please email webmaster@docnz.co.nz.

Magazine Contributions should be sent to: The Editor DESMOPHILES

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Display advertising is available for business – please contact the secretary. Rates above.

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