1991 Ducati 888 Corsa

This wickedly fast Ducati 888 Corsa is the real beast and hails from the same racing season that brought 23 World Superbike wins to Ducati. The 888 was an upgrade from the groundbreaking Ducati 851, the first L-twins to feature liquid engine cooling, computerized fuel injection and 4-valve cylinder heads with Desmodromic valve control. The 888 had a slightly larger and more powerful motor than the already successful 851 series, and it was good enough for Doug Polen to win first place in both the 1991 and 1992 World Superbike Championships. Polen had a remarkable season in 1991, winning 17 races and only losing once, which is nearly unprecedented in modern racing; it was a period in racing that truly marked Ducati’s track heyday. Polen’s bike was sponsored and tuned by Fast by Ferracci and held the lap record at the Spanish Jarama circuit for many years on the 888. World Superbike was a hugely popular racing series, especially as Ducati regularly beat the 4-cylinder Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki competition, breaking a long spell of total Japanese dominance of big-bore racing. The 1991 Ducati 888 Corsa had a dry weight of 313 pounds and was capable of 134 HP at 12,000 RPM and regularly recorded top speeds of more than 180 MPH.

This exceptional 1991 Ducati 888 Corsa is a genuine racer from the Ducati factory that was raced initially by Edwin Weibels in the 1991 Superbike World Championship. Edgar Schnyder used it for the Swiss Championship in 1992-93, although he crashed at Hockenheim and the bike got a new frame. According to Schnyder, the metal plate with the frame number was transferred to the new frame and the crankcase was exchanged every 500 kilometers and is marked “Mitter 888 Reserve.” In 1994, the Ducati was sold to George Wesshall, and then to Ulf Holmberg in Sweden, from whom the MC Collection acquired it.

#racebike #ducati