Ducati Sporting Club UK - Photos of Fogarty 1993 WSB 888 wanted

Greetings,
I am new to this forum, and would like to introduce myself. My name is Brian Brown, and I live out here in sunny Berkeley, California. I am lucky enough to own one of the two factory 888's that Carl Fogarty rode during the 1993 WSB season.

I am trying to restore the 888 to it's original appearance from the 1993 season, but have been having a difficult time locating photos of the bike. There are some ok photos in Paolo Conti's Superbike book, and in the December 1993 issue of Performance Bikes, but none show a good side shot showing all of the sponsorship stickers on the fairings.

I figured that some of you on the forum might have actually been at Brands or Donnington for the 1993 WSB race and would have photographed the bike at that time. It would be fantastic if you could post the photos or email them to me.

Thanks in advance,
Brian

Below is a short history of the bike, and I have tried to attach a photo of the bike as it appears today (The quiz for today "Who is standing next to the bike")

1993 Ducati Factory 888/926 Corsa
Chassis #ZDM888S 002146

This Ducati was one of two bikes ridden by Carl Fogarty during the 1993 World Superbike season. Bike 1 (chassis #ZDM888S 0002178 ) and Bike 2 (chassis#ZDM888S 002146) were each used about 50% of the time. They were set up identically during the race weekend, so if there was a problem with one bike, the other was ready to race.
The bikes were identified by a small Roman numeral at the left lower corner of the number plates, or by a red number on the front of the instrument cluster housing and triple clamp. Bike I is believed to have been dismantled for parts.

For the 1993 WSB season the 888 engine was bored out 2mm, for a total displacement of 926cc. This combination was nicknamed "il pompone" or Big Pump. The team received only one new engine each race weekend, so each bike got a new engine every other race weekend.

Carl Fogarty won 11 races during the '93 season, including 4 doubles and six pole positions. But it was not enough to beat Kawasaki's Scott Russell for the championship. Russell's 5 wins and 12 second places earned him the number one plate; Fogarty had to settle for number two. He would have to wait one year to become champion.

The race history of Chassis #ZDM888S 002146 for the 1993 World Superbike season is as follows:

Round One: Brands Hatch, Race One: DNF (crash)
Round Three: Albecete, Race Two: 1st place
Round Four: Misano, Race Two: 3rd place
Round Six: Brno, Race Two: 2nd place
Round Ten: Assen, Race One: 1st place, Race Two: 1st place
Round Eleven: Monza, Race One: 4th place
Round Twelve: Donington, Race One: 2nd place, Race Two: DNF (crash)
Round Thirteen: Estoril, Race One: DNF (crash)

After the 1993 WSB season Chassis #ZDM888S 002146 was returned to the Ducati factory. It was updated and brought to the USA to be used by Pascal Piccotte, riding for the Fast by Ferracci team during the 1994 AMA Superbike season. Eraldo Ferracci pulled a slick maneuver by homologating a 955cc engine kit for the 888 chassis, which included a new crank, pistons, cylinders and rods plus a new VIN sticker for the frame that the AMA recognized (Ducati Racing '94 AMA 002377, see the right frame tube below the fuel tank). The Muzzy Kawasaki team was outraged and filed a protest, claiming that the kit was not a new motorcycle, but the AMA appeals board denied the protest. The FbF Ducatis dominated the '94 season so much so, that halfway through the season the AMA raised the minimum weight limit for twin cylinder motorcycles by 20 pounds to 355 pounds, the same as the four cylinder superbikes. This prompted the creation of the "We don't need no stinking weight limits " T-shirt. The FbF team changed the front axle from titanium to steel, filled the swingarm pivot shaft with lead, installed a dummy starter motor and installed a large lead filled steel pipe in the space between the cylinders. Surprisingly the weight changes actually made the bike handle better, fixing a front-end push that the team had been chasing all year.
FbF racer Troy Corser won the 1994 AMA Superbike championship and FbF teammate Pascal Picotte finished 4th in points, scoring his only two AMA Superbike victories at Laguna Seca and Road America.

Chassis # ZDM888S 002146 was Picotte's #1 bike. It may be the only intact bike remaining from the 1994 FbF team, as at least two of the team's other bikes were dismantled for parts. The race history for the 1994 AMA Superbike season is as follows:

Daytona Beach, FL: Arai Twin 50 heat race: 1st place. Daytona 200: Pole position/lap record, 11th place (chain came off)
Phoenix, AZ: DNF (Mechanical)
Pomona, CA: 5th place
Monterey, CA: Pole position, 1st place
Elkhart Lake, WI: Pole position/lap record, 1st place
Loudon, NH: 8th place
Lexington, OH: 24th place DNF (Mechanical)
Brainerd, MN: 6th place
Sonoma, CA: 2nd place
Atlanta, GA: 2nd place

The bike was then sold to the Cal-Pacifico race team to be raced by Jason Pridmore during the 1995 AMA Superbike season. Sadly, Jason broke his leg badly during in an off-season motocross accident and never got to ride the bike.

Two-time world champion Doug Polen borrowed the bike for the 1995 AMA Superbike race at Laguna Seca. He and his tuner Mike Velasco gambled on running a slick tire in wet and foggy conditions on Sunday, but it didn't pay off. The race was stopped due to fog. In the restarted race on Monday, Polen crossed the line 13th, but on aggregate time he finished 17tth overall. It would be his last race on the famed Ducati 888. Freddie Spencer would win that day on a FbF Ducati 916, his last ever AMA Superbike victory.

The bike was then sold to Jim Coda, an AFM racer. He raced it a couple of times at the club level, before retiring from motorcycle racing in order to pursue his passion of fly-fishing.

Nothing has been changed on the motorcycle since it was last raced in 1995.