IT'S DUCATI

COME AND RIDE WITH NIALL MACKENZIE @ RIVINGTON BARN 31ST MAY 2010

Join Ducati Manchester and Wyder Motorcycles (Preston Ducati) at Rivington hall barn on bank holiday monday 31st May. Rivington Barn Located alongside the imposing Rivington Hall, at the heart of Rivington Country Park, the magnificent Grade II listed Rivington Hall Barn is one of the North West’s most impressive and unique venues with some great biker roads in the surrounding area. Ducati's roadshow truck will be there with the full 2010 range of bikes to demonstrate including the all new Multistrada 1200S with 3 x BSB champion Niall Mackenzie to take you on your ride.




*to ride a Ducati you need to be over 21 years and have held a bike license for over 2 years - bring both parts of your license and a c/c to swipe in case of any damage.

We will also be at Ponderosa cafe, Horseshoe pass on Sunday the 30th May with the Ducati Truck and full fleet of demonstrators - PLEASE CALL US FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Hi,

Sorry for the delay in the update from round one. The weekend didnt go as planned i’m afraid!

The weekend began with taking advantage of a ‘Hottrax’ track day on the Thursday to really give the bike a full shake down before the race on sunday. This was the 1st time we had run the maxton suspension, race gearing and racing pads together, all of which didnt disappoint!

There were a few big crashes in the morning sessions which cut the amount of track time on offer on the brand new international circuit. Things began to settle down in the afternoon so we got our heads down and made the minor adjustments to rearset positions and suspension.

We also had chance to see the opposition, Ducati Coventry were also testing their Buildbase 848′s! Both guys looked fast especially Leon Morris who I managed to tag on a couple of laps!

With the tyres we were on now completing almost 3 trackdays we didnt push the bike too hard in the final sessions, the last thing we needed was to repair a crashed bike 2 days before the 1st round. I’ve added some pictures of the bike below after its new sticker job from Rage Designs in Warrington. I think its going to hold its own in the paddock in terms of looks alone!

Round 1 – Silverstone started with a bit of an anti-climax, after signing on we received the entry list for the series which was a little disappointing, only 10 riders down for the championship! Not the original full grid as anticipated when I registered! Due to the low numbers we were grouped with two other race classes being the Dutch Ducati’s and the sound of thunder, all of which were on the bigger Ducati 998, 1098, and 1198′s among other manufacturer’s of bigger twins.

We decided to go into the 1st session, timed practice (most people would call this qualifying) with a different tack to how we usually do it, no pit board! The reason for this is that I didnt want to go out chasing other people and times in the first session out with everyone. I wanted to understand how I performed on my own, no pressure from other riders or a pit board saying I wasnt as fast as I felt!

I managed to get to the gate, ready for our session 1st, and was let out straight away meaning I was 1st on track. As the track was drying I built my speed lap after lap until I felt I had good rhythm, I could feel the back wheel spinning up on the back straight so I knew I wasnt slow. The chequered flag came out and I came in knowing that the bike felt perfect and wondered how quick we managed to be on our own.

Receiving the time sheets 10 mins later confirmed we were second quickest in the challenge, only second to the Ducati Coventry rider Darren Fry, a little over half a second faster. This didnt worry me as I wasnt pushing the bike 100% and knew I could go a little quicker come the first race! We were also 4th fastest overall, faster than all of the bigger Ducati’s!

The race began with a poor start to be honest! The front wheel rose straight away, and I had to briefly shut the throttle to regain control. The row behind were soon behind me and I managed to place myself in 5th into the 1st corner. We all passed through the next flip flop of corners and approached the sharp right hander leading onto the back straight. I tipped into the corner and just as I began to wind the throttle back open I was T-boned by a rider who had to go deep into the corner. I remember seeing the sky and tarmac but that was about it.

I woke up on the grass, well away from the track side and the race had been already restarted in my absence! I think I was out for about 10 mins, all I remember is not being able to work out where I was on the circuit and I couldnt remember what corner I was at!

A quick ambulance ride to the medical center and a good go on the oxygen mask, I was checked over and after an hour had passed my memory began to return along with a head ache from hell!

Due to the fact I was knocked unconscious I wasnt allowed to start the second race, there are no points thus far in the championship! Still looking at the positives at least I’m ok to race again, the next round is at Assen in the Netherlands as Oulton Park is being rescheduled to another date. Until then, please check out some of the photos from the weekend, taken by British Sport Photography and some from the start line by Karen Whitesmith.








More pictures at:

http://www.bengarnerracing.com/

Thanks for the support,

Ben

Hi Everyone, Chris has asked me to introduce myself as the official Ducati Manchester entrant into the this years new and exciting Ducati 848 Challenge.

Chris and the team have been kind enough to help me this year, and I'm over the moon that i have the support from the official Ducati Dealer of the year.

The Ducati 848 Challenge is a UK based race series with a major difference because it incorporates events at Assen in Holland and a double header at Misano in Italy during World Ducati Week.

This is a new race series from experienced-hand Chris Bushell (Ducati Desmo Due series organiser for past five-years) in conjunction with Ducati UK and the New Era club. "This is a race series for modern bikes with 125-130bhp run to Superstock rules," explained Chris. "The big news is the chance to race at the World Ducati Weekend in front of 50,000+ Ducati fans at Misano.

The race calendar visits some of the best circuits in the UK including Silverstone, which when combined with Assen and Misano means we are racing on three MotoGP tracks. Oulton Park and Brands Hatch BSB rounds will feature TV coverage.

The confirmed race calendar for the 2010 season is:

25th April - Silverstone
1-3rd May - Oulton Park - BSB round
31st May Assen - Ducati Club Nederland races
12-13th June - Misano - World Ducati Weekend
17/18th July - Snetterton
7/8th August - Brands Hatch - BSB round
11th September - Castle Combe
2/3rd October - Cadwell Park

I will be keeping a diary of all the action from receipt of the bike, changing it to a race machine, and all the highs and lows of the season ahead.

So please keep coming back to check for the latest news and I look forward to posting the progress shortly......

Thanks for reading,

Ben

www.bengarnerracing.com

I have just returned from the annual Ducati Conference and am pleased and proud to announce that Ducati Manchester returned with 2 awards for 2009. Ducati Manchester was awarded with the Most Sales in the UK for 2009 which is huge achievement and something I am personally proud of. Customer Service and providing 'that little bit extra' that I would expect when buying a Ducati is what we strive for and selling more Ducati's than any other dealer in the UK is an achievement that i put down to being a solus Ducati Store and our passion for Ducati. We also won the most prestigious award of 'DEALER OF THE YEAR' which I would like to thank all our staff, Ben, Adam, Mike, Mark, Andy, Cate, Sammy, Sergio and Ian that without their dedication and enthusiasm we would not have won this award. I would also like to thank all our customers who have joined 'our family' for their continued support and enthusiasm to all the events, trackdays, ride outs and drinking all our coffee! Without you our dream would not be possible. 2010 will be an exciting year for Ducati and I look forward to meeting many new Ducati owners and seeing you all soon.

Sincere Thanks

Chris Booth

Director