Cupertino, CA ~ Throughout the winter, Ducati searched the country for the coolest Monster in North America. Winning Monsters from eight different IMS shows were selected for the grand finale on March 11th, in Daytona, along with four wildcard bikes that were so exceptional they warranted inclusion.
A celebrity panel of judges including editors from Moto-Euro Magazine, Cycle News, the Desmodromiclub of Rome, Neil Hodgson and Eric Bostrom from Team Ducati Austin and Ducati CEO Michael Lock.
A celebrity panel of judges including editors from Moto-Euro Magazine, Cycle News, the Desmodromiclub of Rome, Neil Hodgson and Eric Bostrom from Team Ducati Austin and Ducati CEO Michael Lock.
1st Place: Stuart Baker Bikes, owners and judges assembled in Daytona to carefully critique each entrant. The bikes ranged in style from vintage inspired to turbocharged performance, making judging difficult because all the bikes were so well crafted. With each bike, one could tell the owner's intentions and what they thought a truly perfect Ducati Monster should be.
In the end, Stuart Baker, who won at the IMS Show in San Francisco, was adjudged to have the most outstanding bike.
Special mention was made by many judges of the purity of purpose and classic café-racer lines' of Stuart's bike. Baker won a brand new, $13,495, 117 HP 2005 Ducati Monster S4R as his vintage styled 1999 Monster 750 took 1st place in front of a large crowd of Ducatisti on a beautiful afternoon in Florida. "It's easy for someone to look at the pictures, and modification lists on the Internet and make judgments about other motorcycles. It is a whole other matter when you are face-to-face with the machines. Each and every motorcycle in the final round of the Monster Challenge was full of thought, great modifications, and a lot of passion. I'm not surprised it took the judges an extra two hours to announce their decisions," commented Stuart.
Second place went to Chris Nicolaou of Port Perry, Ontario, who won a trip to the 2005 US MotoGP, featuring the return of Grand Prix racing to the USA and the debut of Ducati's V-4 engined, 216 mph Desmosedici machine. Chris was the only Canadian selected as a finalist and his Monster features an extended swingarm, amazing craftsmanship and a unique style.
Kyle Brussich of Houston, Texas finished on the podium in 3rd place with her heavily modified 2000 Ducati Monster 900. Surprisingly, Kyle was the only female finalist in Daytona despite having many women-owned Monsters compete in the Monster Challenge. She wins a $1,000 Ducati Performance gift certificate.
"Each and every motorcycle in the final round of the Monster Challenge was full of thought, great modifications, and a lot of passion. I'm not surprised it took the judges an extra two hours to announce their decisions," commented Stuart.
