Guilt By Association

GUILT BY ASSOCIATION

Ducati 748: The bike without a class

WHILE AMERICAN DUCATISTI have the arrival of the 748 to applaud, there won't be any cheering for the 916's kid brother at U.S. roadraces this year. Less than two months before the start of the '97 season, plans for Ducati's factory-backed roadrace teams, Fast by Ferracci and newly signed Vance & Hines Racing, to field 748s in 600cc supersport competition got nixed by the AMA rules committee.

In the past, the supersport format allowed twin-cylinder machines of up to 750cc to compete in the 600 class, but the AMA has now placed a 600cc cap on the class for 1997, regardless of powerplant type.

It's quite apparent that the 748's reputation preceded its stateside arrival. This particular Duck tale begins two years ago when Belgian Michael Paquay bagged seven wins aboard a 748 SP en route to claiming the eight-race 1995 European Supersport title. Ducati's dominance in the class prompted the FIM to instate a common weight minimum for Twins and Fours in '96, eliminating the advantage Twins had enjoyed. While weight parity did make for closer racing, it didn't keep Ducati from winning a second-consecutive 600cc European Supersport crown.

Building on that Euro success, Ducati set its sights on American supersport racing for `97. Suzuki and Yamaha's return to AMA 600 racing this year has set the stage for what promises to be the most exciting sea son in supersport history. Wouldn't including an Italian brand add even more energy to the class?

The AMA doesn't think so. "We're extremely concerned that the balance of competition could be upset," explains AMA Director of Pro Competition Merrill Vanderslice.

But are the AMA's concerns of a Ducati runaway warranted? Consider first that the U.S.-spec 748 offers less performance than the limited-edition SP version being raced abroad. Although it may look like an SP at a glance, our 748 testbike is in reality a Biposto model that's been outfitted with a solo seat. Unlike the 916 SP, which features two fuel-injection nozzles per cylinder, all 748 models (SP included) have only single injectors. The 748 SP, however, gains a few additional ponies over the Biposto via use of hotter camshafts, a slightly higher compression ratio and different fuel and ignition maps. Also, Ohlins suspension and Brembo cast iron brake rotors give the SP chassis a performance edge over the less-expen sive Showa components and stainless steel rotors fitted to the Biposto.

Not to be overlooked is the fact that less-restrictive FIM Supersport rules allow cylinder-head porting and use of special race-kit parts, such as sprag clutches, close-ratio gearboxes, light ened generators and crankshafts-none of which is AMA Supersport-legal. You can begin to see why not every one is as convinced as the AMA that the 748 would steamroll the 600cc competition here in America.

"I think the AMA made a big mis take, I really do," says Terry Vance. "I think they did it because they got pres sure (from other manufacturers) and they were just scared." Adds Vance, "I completely understand where the AMA is coming from, but I don't know that it wouldn't have created bet ter racing if they had been able to make a Chevy/Ford-type controversy." Eraldo Ferracci concurs. "In (ban ning the 748), I think they spoil it for themselves, because it would be good for the series," he says, before offering this unabashed view of the situation: "The Japanese say to the AMA, `The 600s are our best-selling motorcycles, so we don't want no competition.' I tell you, that stinks."

Vanderslice counters that the AMA received no pressure from the Japanese teams, that Ducati never contacted the AMA about its intentions to homolo gate the 748 for racing and that it would be unlikely Ducati could meet the 400bike minimum production run needed to qualifly for 600 Supersport, anyway.

It's not just the big teams that have been affected by the AMA's ruling. "What really bugs me about the AMA's rule change is that club-racing organizations may follow suit and not allow the 748 to run against 600s," says Pro Italia's Earl Campbell, who planned to field a 748 this year.

Having heard both sides of the argu ment, Cycle World decided to pit a stock 748 against a stock Honda CBR600F3 around Willow Springs Raceway. What we found were two very closely matched machines, the Honda's best lap of 1:30.06 only a tenth of a second quicker than the Ducati's best at 1:30.16. Admittedly, comparing stock bikes doesn't offer a perfect pic ture of how these same machines would perform in full supersport trim, but it's better than idle speculation.

In terms of weight, the stock 748 scales-in at 448 pounds without fuel, 10 pounds more than the F3 and 36 pounds more than the class featherweight Suzuki GSX-R600. Likewise, pulls on the dyno showed the 748 to produce 87 peak horsepower at 10,400 rpm, 4 less than the class-leading F3. Like most Twins, the 748's strength can be found lower in the rev range; here, the 748 holds a 7-10 horsepower advantage over the F3 between 5000 and 10,000 rpm. While such a torque-rich powercurve might prove ideal on tighter cir cuits such as Loudon or Sears Point, Ferracci estimates that the 748 would be a good 3 seconds off the pace at Daytona, and hard-pressed at other fast circuits like Road America or Brainerd. So, is there any hope of the AMA reconsidering the 748's plight? Don't expect it to happen this year.

"When we've got an outstanding year of 600 supersport racing at our doorstep, right now, with four manufacturers ready to jump in," says Vanderslice, "it really doesn't seem prudent to see if a bike that has mOre displacement could or could not compete."

In other words, nice try, Ducati, but no dice.

Don Canet