A superb and rare photo of Bruno Spaggiari with the legendary nr. 84 Ducati 750cc desmodromic V-twin factory racer , seen in action in the 200 miles race of Imola in 1973. According the spec. sheet that came with the negative, this historic photo was shot on April 15, 1973 (raceday).

The race was won by Jarno Saarinen on a Yamaha 351 two stroke racer. Bruno Spaggiari finished the race in 2ND position, behind Saarinen. His teammate Kneubuhler crashed during the race. He would however set the fastest lap with a speed of 102.62 mph (165.147 km/h) with a similar Ducati.

The 1973 Ducati Imola racers were different from the 1972 racers. Most noticeable was a new, short stroke 750 engine which delivered a power output of 90 hp at 10,000 r.p.m. and also the new short wheelbase (1,420mm)  Daspa frame, designed by Taglioni himself. Three bikes were build, the last one was ready 3 days before raceday. They were ridden by Bruno Spaggiari, Bruno Kneubuhler and Mick Grant. Spaggiari finished the race in 2 place and Grant was forced to retire when he burned his clutch at the start of the race. Kneubuhler crashed while closing in on Saarinen.

The Ducati 750 Imola Desmo is one of the most famous bikes in the world.  It is best known, and, of course named after, its victory with Paul Smart and Bruno Spaggiari in the 200 mile race at Imola in 1972 – one of the most spectacular in racing history.  Much has been written about the fantastic final lap, which saw Smart and Spaggiari side by side almost all the way to the finishing line, but how this race changed the destiny of the Italian manufacturer has been relatively unexplored. The win at Imola defined Ducati’s future approach to racing, with the manufacturer focusing its attention almost exclusively on production-derived machines. In 1972 Checco Costa bought the 200 Mile formula to Italy and Ducati prepared eight bikes to be ridden by Paul Smart, Bruno Spaggiari, Ermanno Giuliano, and Alan Dunscombe.  The bikes had production frames and engines, but were prepared, as usual, in a very short time.  Most of this work, however, probably still goes unnoticed, as it was concerned with the smallest details: wherever possible, each part of the bike was painstakingly filed down and lightened.  In addition, new Dellorto carburetors with 40 mm choke tubes and accelerator pumps arrived just in time, providing a perfect supply of fuel for the big twin-cylinder, which delivered 80 hp at 8,500 rpm.  At Imola, Spaggiari reached the finish line with his gas tank almost empty and so could not snatch the victory from Smart. The Imola racers featured Ducati’s famous 4-stroke longitudinal split 90° V twin engine. The crankcase cylinder and cylinderheads were cast in light alloy; the cylinders had cast-iron liners. Bore and stroke was 80 x 74.4 mm. Cylinder capacity was 747.95 cc. The racers had a compression ratio of 10:1. Ducati was already famous for its desmodromic single overhead camshafts, driven by bevel-gears. It was also present on the Imola racing machines. Each head had two valves. The air cooled engine featured wet sump lubrication. Two Dell’orto PHF 40 carburetors with accelerator pump fed the fuel mixture in the combustion chambers. A twin-plug contact-breaker ignition system was present. The Imola racers had a five-speed gearbox and primary drive by gears, final drive was by chain. A wet multi-plate clutch was also present. The engine delivered a power output of 82 hp at 9,000 r.p.m. Enough for a topspeed of 156.25 mph (250 km/h)! The Ducati 750 ‘s were often used in production based racing on both sides of the Atlantic. In the early 1970’s, long distance racing was extremely popular in Europe, especially Italy. These events were responsible for the quick gaining popularity of the heavier sports motorcycle, like the Ducati 750 SS, the Moto Guzzi V7 Sport, the Benelli 650 Tornado, the BMW R 90 S Daytona and the Laverda SFC 750; but also the Japanese sports motorcycles like the Kawasaki 350, 500 and 750 triples, but also heavy four strokes like the Honda CB 750 Four. Riders that would make world fame, like Franco Uncini and Marco Lucchinelli, all participated in these races before they made the steps to the Grand Prix World Championship racing scene.

Today, the Ducati Sport Classics models like the PaulSmart 1000, the Sport 1000 and the GT 1000, pay all directly tribute to the Imola era and the wonderful Ducati bikes that came from it!

This historic non period photo shows a wonderful part of Ducati’s impressive motorcycle history. It is rare to obtain a photo like this, therefore it is printed in a nice large format of approx. 7" x 12" (18 x 30 cm ). It is great the way it is, and would look gorgeous when framed.

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