RM SETS 'NEW BIKE' RECORDS

2010 Ducati GP10 CS1 ridden by Casey Stoner, sold for E251,500 ($320,000)

A pair of Ducati GP racers, sold by RM Auctions at  Monaco on May 11th, has set records for Italian motorcycles sold at auction...and they weren't even 'vintage'.  Two factory Desmodieci GP racers, ridden by Casey Stoner and Valentino Rossi, were sold for over 240,000 euros each (inclusive of fees), by far the highest price paid for contemporary motorcycles at auction, placing two new racing machines squarely in the thick of my 'Top 20' Motorcycle Sales at Auction.  These GP machines were sold by the Ducati factory, the first time the Factory Ducati Corse racing department has offered such machinery at auction.

The 2011 Ducati GP11 VR2 ridden by Valentino Rossi, sold for E245,700 ($312,500)

The staggering bids for these machines buck pricing trends for ex-GP machines, which generally devalue quickly after their obsolescence for competitive, top-level racing, languishing in collections for decades, then roar back in value within the 'classics' market.  These machines are recent enough, in fact, to still be competitive on the racing grid for non-factory teams, which begs the question...are these bikes going to be raced in MotoGP soon, or will they decorate the living room of an Italian collector?

Posted in: Auctions, Ducati, TOP 20 AUCTION PRICES