Racing to save the planet

Silverstone May 2008 Ducati photo gallery

Friday, June 6, 2008, 02:24 - Results, Photos

Click here to see the gallery

Although the £1000 ebay Laverda did prove itself to be faster than most of the Suzukis every time it ran, it was always going to struggle on fast circuits against the top SV 650s. Running the Laverda did prove several things:
1. Bioethanol (e85) is an excellent fuel for racing bikes.
2. You don't need to spend thousands buying a Suzuki, reworking the forks, changing the rear shock, fitting a race exhaust and fitting new discs to run near the front in Minitwins. Just get a Laverda 650 Formula!
3. Russ Joyner can still ride a bike fast and his bike preparation is superb.
4. To actually win a Bemsee minitwin race you need to be near the 72bhp limit, which the Laverda was about 10 bhp off.

So, team Inzane has upped its game and developed a 2003 Ducati 800SS race bike. Once again ebay produced a suitable donor bike, which Russ has hand crafted into a gorgeous and unique racer clothed in a lovely piece of QB Carbon Desmosedici bodywork. It is still heavier than an SV, but it looks great.

The stock motor loves the e85 and was much more powerful than the Laverda on the dyno - straight up to 70bhp with the homemade exhaust.

With expert setup setup help from Baines Racing on the Friday, the Ducati qualified 2nd in a field of 39 on Saturday and finished third in its first race! Russ did even better in race 2 by pipping championship contender Peter Molloy by 0.1s to get 2nd. More to come!

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