For the first time in 17 years, a motorcycle company not named Harley Davidson has won a flat-track one-mile race, with Ducati placing first on the performance of Joe Kopp, who last Saturday piloted a customized dirt-racing chassis to a Grand National victory at the Yavapai Downs Mile in Arizona.

Not only that -- and good news for recreational motorcycle riders -- the contest marks the first time a Grand National race has been won by a readily available production motor in a full 29 years. Kopp's customized bike was powered by the same 2010 Desmodue engine that powers Ducati's Hypermotard 1100EVO.

Kopp's preseason statements seem prescient (from Gizmag's source article):

"I really think that we are going to surprise a lot of people this year with the Ducati. This is exactly the type of challenge that I feel I needed, and I am really looking forward to proving that we can win on this bike right out of the box. I think with my feedback and experience and my crew’s knowledge that we can further development of this bike very quickly and have fun doing it.”