Monsters invade Montreal

From Ducati North America

Cupertino, CA -- A crowd of over 50,000 battled the frigid Northeast temperatures last weekend to see the Montreal round of the Ducati Monster Challenge. Monster Challenge participants demonstrated why the Monster is quickly gaining popularity in the Canadian motorcycle market.

When the tire smoke cleared, Peter Hattle of Fergus, ON rode home with top honours for the coolest Monster at the show. His 1997 Monster 900 boasts Superbike forks, Ohlins rear shock and Brembo radial mount calipers. However, the most visually stunning part of his bike is the gold powdercoated magnesium wheels. As the winner, his bike will be transported to Birmingham, AL for the final round of competition at Barber Motorsports Park.

"The wheels really do it for me. They are very light, beautiful and do incredible things for the handling of the bike as well as being so bling! This is what I envision as a 'Streetfighter.' And to be a real streetfighter, it just has to be black and it's a very cool, true hooligan Monster," said Hattle.

Lucie Poliquin of Arundel, QC took second place with her 2003 Monster 900. The bike's hand-built exhaust system and S4R front suspension caught the judges' attention in both detail and performance.

Third place went to Sylvie Labelle also of Arundel and her S4R. Her bike balanced the catalogue performance parts with good suspension modifications for a nicely built overall package. Her bike is a great example of Ducati's increased presence in Canada, especially with the Monster family.

Kevin Davis, Canadian sales and marketing manager for Ducati North America said, "Ducati has experienced strong growth in Canada the past two years, with over 60 per cent increase from 2003 to 2005. Nearly 42 per cent of total Ducati sales in Canada in 2005 were Monster models, with the M620 and S2R800 being the two strongest sellers. The Monster is really gaining ground in Canada."