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Ducati 851 'Lucchinelli Replica' Racing

Ducati kicked off the inaugural World Superbike Championship with victory in the opening round at Donington Park in April 1988, when works rider Marco Lucchinelli took the honours aboard an over-bored and race-kitted version of the Ducati 851 Superbike. Since then the Italian company has won more WSB races and championships than any other manufacturer.

In developing the original 851, engineer Massimo Bordi created one of the finest motorcycle power plants ever. By the mid-1980s, Ducati's existing air-cooled 4-valve twins were approaching the end of the development so Bordi started with a clean sheet in creating their water-cooled, 8-valve, fuel-injected successor. Ducati's trademark desmodromic valve actuation system, which closes the valves mechanically rather than relying on springs, was retained, as was the 90-degree angle between the cylinders. Wrapped around this outstanding engine was a frame, consisting of an intricate trellis of straight tubes, whose design has since become standardised throughout the Ducati range.

Ducati lost no time in announcing a limited edition of Marco's bike for 1989 - the 'Lucchinelli Replica' - and ever since then the factory has pursued a policy of offering limited edition, higher-specification variants of the standard model. Like the works racer the Replica gained its extra 37cc capacity by a 2mm overbore which, coupled to an increased compression ratio, revised Weber fuel injection and race exhaust, helped raise rear wheel horsepower to a claimed 118bhp. Good enough for the works racers, the road bike's standard tubular-steel trellis frame was retained, though wheels went up to 17" diameter and bigger Brembo brake discs were specified.

Source bonhams.com