In 1970 when Fabio Taglioni, Chief Designer and Technical Director at Ducati, sat down at his desk and began to sketch out his idea for a new engine.
Ducati, known then for it’s smaller (sub 500cc) machines, wanted to go in a new direction and compete with the likes of Norton, MV Agusta and the Japanese manufacturers. They tasked Taglioni with designing a new motorcycle engine. By April he had full drawings of the new bike and by July he and his team had a running engine. Just a month after that they had a complete prototype finished and ready to test.
The new engine had a ‘L’ configuration with two cylinders and desmodromic valves. A design that would become synonymous with the Ducati name for decades. In 1971 they built 500cc versions to race in the Italian championship but that was just a prelude to the upcoming endurance race at Imola; Europe’s answer to the Daytona 200.
The race in 1972 is part of sporting history with Ducati finally making its mark against the established names in the big class. The 748cc engine, developing in excess of 85bhp at 9000rpm, was ridden to victory by Paul Smart, Bruno Spaggiari, Ermanno Giuliano, and Alan Dunscombe.
Fabio Taglioni (right)