Ducati North America is excited to announce its first and
third place finishes in the 88th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb,
held on Sunday, June 27 in the mountains above Colorado Springs, Colorado.
In its very first international competition, the Multistrada
1200 S took top honors in the 1200cc class in the hands of Pikes Peak Veteran
Greg Tracy. The Multistrada took a massive lead off the starting line, and rode
into clouds to take the top podium position at 14,110 feet. Tracy ran a smooth,
uneventful race which demonstrated the exceptional on and off road capabilities
of Ducati's latest offering.
"That was an exciting week I've got to say. I want to thank
Ducati for the opportunity they've given me- I was even pitted in front of Rhys
Millen's Unlimited Class ride- that was pretty cool! The Spider Grips
Falkner-Livingston Multistrada was an amazing ride. Everyone did an awesome job
and that motorcycle is crazy fast- it hit 137mph at one point! The bike worked
great on the dirt and the asphalt" said Tracy in the post race award ceremony. "When I was growing up, and all these factory teams would win races, I was sure
they had these $100.000 engines and that was why they went so fast. I was
wrong. This is my first year on a factory motorcycle and I'll tell you that
bike was box-stock. It had some carbon, and few tweaks and that was it."
Greg's teammate Alexander Smith also put in a formidable
performance, ensuring the second Ducati entry made the podium. Alexander fought
his way up the mountain, battling an exciting race for the second spot and
finishing third after an accident in the last corner.
"I have to repeat everything Greg said about the bike- it
was really perfect. The race was good, and if you see the start line footage
you can tell how awesome the bike was working," said Smith. "It was a pretty
uneventful race up until the last corner where I kind of laid it down. I got
off real quick and remounted which was still good enough for third and got two
Ducati's on the podium."
Ducati North America and Ducati Newport Beach are excited to
announce our participation in the 2010 Pikes Peak international Hill
Climb. We will enter two Multstrada 1200['s in the Race to the Clouds,
set to take place June 26-27 in Colorado.
2010 represents Ducati's second attempt to win the prestigious hill
climb, following a 2008 "skunk works" effort in which Ducati won the
1200cc class with the Hypermotard. This year Ducati has organized
an official effort surrounding the new Multistrada 1200, partnering with
Spider Grips and Ducati Newport Beach to run the team. Racers Alexander and Greg are enthusiastic to race the Multistrada, planning to
put its traction control, ride by wire throttle and other electronic
revelations to good use.
The Pikes Peak international Hill Climb will take place June 26-27 in
Colorado.
Your 2010 Pikes Peak Race Team: Brent Davidson - technician Greg Tracy - racer Alexander Smith - racer Becca Livingston - team owner Paul Livingston - team owner
