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COPYRIGHT 2003 Ehlert Publishing Group
After 10 motorcycle World Championships and a second career racing cars, including Formula One, Mike "The Bike" Hailwood retired in 1974 to recoup from some serious leg and foot injuries. Nevertheless, in late 1977 or early 1978, the Australian Ducati importer learned Hailwood was in New Zealand and begged him to race a Ducati at Bathurst.
Hailwood at first refused, but finally said that he would do it if the organization would bring in his former motorcycle mechanic. The mechanic was flown to Australia, and Hailwood won the race. Pumped, Hailwood decided to race in the Isle of Man Formula One event in June of 1978.
Hailwood had not been to the Isle of Man in almost 20 years, and one of his fellow racers was reported to have made some remarks about his being an "old man." Yet despite insults from other racers, and no recent familiarity with the track, Hailwood won his race, and generated an enormous wave of publicity for Ducati. The Mike Hailwood Replica appeared on showroom floors the next year.
The Ducati company, originally a builder of photographic and electrical equipment, entered the motorcycle market after World War II, when anything that would run could be sold as long as it was cheap. The company survived the industry shakeout in the late '50s and early '60s, and built a reputation on its fast, sporty singles. In 1969, a new management team, who thought Ducati should have...
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