Project Bol d'Or Part 4: It’s a bit of a Bols-up

There are few things more ignominious than a very public failure, but there’s no hiding the fact that MCN’s much-neglected Ducati Paso has fallen at the last hurdle, leaving it stranded without a fork, and unable to go to the Bol d’Or.

ith just one day to go until it was set to partner Andy Downes aboard his BMW K1 on a 2000-mile run to the South of France for the return of the Bol to is original home at Circuit Paul Ricard, the Paso’s fork turned out to be a spanner. A mysterious, and serious, knock from the right fork leg ruined any chance of it passing an MoT, and with no time left there was no choice but to cross the Bol off our list, and focus on the next goal.

With The Motorcycle Works in Peterborough stripping the fork in the search of answers, we’ve refocused our efforts on getting to the Magny-Cours round of the World Superbike championship on October 2-4 instead.

“Hopefully the ailing fork is the last serious issue for the Paso,” said disappointed Deputy Editor Richard Newland, who has been slaving over the wreck for the last two months. “We were so close to setting off, but the Paso has still come a long way – even if it’s not about to go a long way. Project Bol is dead, long live Project Magny-Cours!”

MCN Senior Reporter Andy Downes said: “When I first saw the Ducati Paso 750 Rich was hoping to ride to the Bol and back I was fairly sure his ambitions were a little far-fetched. But as the time went on and with the huge amount of work he had put into getting the bike fixed I started to believe we could make it. My BMW K1 was set-up and ready to go – and I’d even started packing my clothes. To be robbed of attending the first Bol d’Or to return to Paul Ricard at the last gasp is a bitter pill to swallow.”

Words: Richard Newland & Andy Downes