Forget Rossi reps – buy Rossi's bike!

DUCATI is selling off an ex-Rossi 2011-spec Desmosedici GP11 and Casey Stoner's 2010 GP10 at RM Auction's Monaco sale in May.

It's an unusual step, since GP bikes are normally consigned to the crusher, either as a tax-reduction measure or simply to stop secrets reaching their rivals, or filed away in factory-owned museums

Presumably, with new 1000cc engine rules and the carbon chassis of the 2010 and 2011 machines dropped as a concept, Ducati isn't too worried about rivals finding out about these machines, which weren't its most successful designs. Even so, they'd be the crowning glory of any private collection.

There's no word on how much the reserve is for the bikes, and no estimate on their values just yet. So few up-to-date GP machines get offered to the public, let alone ones with Rossi or Stoner heritage, that it's hard to judge how much they could raise.

Here are the details of the bikes, as supplied by Ducati:

Built in the Ducati factory in Borgo Panigale, Bologna 7-11 December 2009, Casey Stoner’s Ducati Desmosedici GP10 “CS1” was first started for bench testing on 14 December 2009 before being track tested by the Australian rider in Sepang, Malaysia in February 2010. Stoner first competed with CS1 in Qatar in April 2010 and raced it to victory in the Australian GP at Phillip Island in October 2010. The machine took pole positions in Qatar, Phillip Island and Valencia and powered the Australian to podium positions in Valencia, Assen and Catalunya. Its final Grand Prix was in Valencia, November 2010 having logged a total of 4,232km. 

Valentino Rossi’s Ducati Desmosedici GP11 “VR2” was built at the Ducati factory 6-10 December 2010 and was first started for bench testing two days later. VR2’s first track test for Rossi was carried out in the February 2011 Sepang tests and first competed in the Qatar Grand Prix the following month. It recorded a podium position at Le Mans, France in May 2011 and competed in its last race at the Dutch TT in Assen, having logged a total of 2,342km. 

“The release of two very special machines like these is an extremely rare occasion for us, so the lucky buyer must not only enter into a confidentiality agreement, but also become a close member of the ‘Ducati family’!” said Ducati Corse General and Technical Director, Filippo Preziosi. “The Desmosedici GP10 and GP11 were two very interesting bikes in our GP project history and therefore will represent exciting opportunities for serious collectors.” 

RM’s highly-anticipated Monaco auction will also offer the private Saltarelli Collection of historic Ducati motorcycles at the same event, providing a wonderful celebration of Ducatis history. In addition to the motorcycles, the two-day sale will also feature a magnificent roster of blue-chip automobiles. 

For more details go to www.rmauctions.com. Oh, and if you buy one... Gizza go...