Following the announcement of Ducati’s plans for racing the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb, the Spider Grips Ducati team officially revealed itself to the public on Friday May 21st at its dealer partner- Ducati Newport Beach. A reception for the team was held from 5-7pm where both riders and Team Principals Paul and Becca Livingston turned up for the event with two of the race bikes in their first phase of modification. Also on display was the Hypermotard 1100 the same team took to victory in 2008. Ducati Newport Beach President Mike Guerin said “It was a great event, and I’m really excited to play a significant role in the teams development and future success. Having the kickoff party here gave us the momentum to get running as there is plenty of work ahead.”
For its public unveiling the Multistrada 1200 was well into its first phase of preparation. After uncrating the bikes at Ducati Newport Beach, the future race machines were prepared for tuning. They began an aggressive break in procedure which included heat cycling on the dyno and filling the bike with special race lubricants.
The bike in California had an equally busy schedule, first visiting the Adams kart track to see what the motorcycle was capable in stock trim. The test was a great success, giving the team great confidence for the project ahead of them.
“I’m very pleased with our first baseline test. I think the big surprise for us was how much fun the bike is in stock trim- it tempted me to just keep one stock as my every day bike! We have a good idea of what we need to do in order to win this, and we are setting out right away to do all the necessary modifications,” said Team Principal Paul Livingston.
A trip to Race tech was then in order for proper suspension and chassis tuning; which included set up for rider weights and necessary adjustments of the electronic suspension to a custom setting. This normally tedious and manual process was easy enough that it prompted several to laugh out loud and marvel at the versatility and user friendliness of the Ducati Electronic Suspension system- a first in a road going Ducati. A quick fitting of some new tires and the bike was ready for the Newport Beach unveiling. Stay tuned for the next team update, as there is a test in the works as well as several weight saving measures to get the bike in race trim!