BOLOGNA: Ducati Globetrotter 90th ends where it began, in Borgo Panigale, after having covered 30,000km around the globe.

The Italian motorcycle maker's headquarters was the final destination for Timo Schäfer, the last of the seven motorcyclists who, between July 4 and today, have taken turns riding the Ducati Multistrada 1200 Enduro around the world.

On hand as Schäfer arrived at the factory were Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali and many of the company’s employees.

Domenicali congratulated Timo and the other six adventurers for having taken on this incredible voyage for Ducati.



Over the five-month voyage dedicated to Ducati’s 90th anniversary, Indian globetrotter Vir Nakai, Frenchman Laurent Cochet, Belgian rider Jessica Leyne, Brazilian Eduardo Generali, Australian Steve Fraser and Brit Hugo Wilson all played a leading role.

Each one an expert motorcyclist, passionate traveller and, above all, skilled storyteller.

Day after day on the Globetrotter90.ducati.com blog, they kept an on-board diary, telling the many Ducati fans exactly what was happening during their exciting adventure.

Stage after stage, the seven globetrotters passed on the special torch, the symbolic baton created by the Ducati Design Center and equipped with an inbuilt camera to allow for every emotion experienced during the trip to be filmed and shared.

From Bologna to Scandinavia, then to Russia and across the legendary Trans-Siberian Highway, to Japan, the US and back across to Europe, before the torch and Multistrada 1200 Enduro finally returned home.



The seventh and final globetrotter, 30-year old mechanical engineering student Timo Schäfer, from Karlsruhe, Germany, left the Isle of Man in the UK, on Dec 2 and travelled to Maidstone, where he met with 73-year old former rider Paul Smart.

The young German motorcyclist and Smart relived what Ducati considers to be its most significant win of all. On April 23, 1972, the first 200 Miglia race at Imola was won by Smart on a production 750 GT, while Bruno Spaggiari finished second with the same bike.



The meeting between Schäfer and Smart came to a very special end. As they were saying their farewells, Smart simply could not resist climbing onto his Ducati Scrambler to accompany the final globetrotter as far as the Eurotunnel, despite the wet conditions and freezing temperatures.

Having crossed France, Belgium and a good part of Germany, with temperatures that were consistently below zero, Schäfer reached Bavaria, where the Audi Forum, in Ingolstadt, is hosting the "More Than Red - Passione Ducati" exhibition until April 30 next year in celebration of 90 years of the Bologna-based motorcycle manufacturer.



With Schäfer still muddy after the long trip, he was welcomed and soon overwhelmed with photo requests by visitors to the exhibition, who then wanted to hear all about Schäfer’s adventure.

Next, he crossed the Alps back to Italy reaching the Monza racetrack. It was here that, on Nov 30, 1958, the futuristic 100cc Ducati Siluro, helmed by Santo Ciceri, set 44 world speed records on that same day.



Schäfer was extremely privileged to be able to meet the man himself at the very same track.

Onwards to Florence to greet another one of Ducati's living legends - Giuliano Maoggi. Born in 1926, Maoggi won the fourth Motogiro d’Italia in 1956, riding the Gran Sport 100, known as the Marianna and designed by Fabio Taglioni.

Having crossed the Futa pass, he finally arrived in Borgo Panigale on Dec 15, thus concluding the unforgettable Globetrotter 90th.

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