1978 Mike Hailwood F1 Ducati comes to Goodwood Festival of Speed, with rider Chris Walker

Forty-three years ago, Mike “The Bike” Hailwood stunned the motorcycling world when he emerged from 11 years of self-imposed retirement to win the Formula One TT at the Isle of Man, on a specially prepared 864cc Ducati V-twin. Riding for Sports Motorcycles Racing out of Manchester, headed by Steve Wynne, they beat the Honda works team and rider Phil Read. A week later he rode to victory at Mallory Park, firmly cementing his reputation as one of the greatest riders of all time.

Over the course of the 1979 to 1986 production run, Ducati sold over 7,000 examples of the Mike Hailwood Replica, bringing much needed revenue for the struggling company and carrying the Ducati Factory through difficult times to emerge as the iconic brand it is today, many times more than any other race replicas, by any manufacturer.

An international auction house stated that it is one of the three most valuable and iconic bikes in the world today. The original Mike Hailwood bike is currently in the ownership of Larry Auriana of the USA. It is being entered at Goodwood by Ron Winder, a friend of Mike Hailwood’s, who was instrumental in persuading Mike to race the bike and led the timing and signalling team in the 1978 IOM.

This year the bike made its long journey to West Sussex and the 2021 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The bike entered by a friend of Mike Hailwood, Ron Winder wowed over 200,000 fans over 4 days with numerous runs up the iconic Goodwood Hill. New Ducati dealer and ex BSB and World Superbike star Chris Walker was given the honour of riding this historic bike. 

Chris Walker
"What a machine. It's been a huge honour to come and ride 'Mike the Bike' Hailwood's bike. The team of gents have looked after me, it's been phenomenal. I wish we had something like this to put in the new Ducati dealership in Grantham. I've had a wonderful time. I never thought I'd get to ride something quite as iconic as this. It's probably one of the most expensive motorbikes to exist really. It's steeped in history and to think this bike did 112mph round the TT in 1978 for a man that had been out of motorcycle racing for eleven years is truly, truly remarkable. I have to say I've been fortunate enough to ride at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a few times and out of all the bikes I've ever ridden this is by far the biggest honour and the best thing I've ever ridden."