Description
Highlights
Ridden by the late Steve ‘Hizzy’ Hislop to victory in the 2002 British Superbike Championship
Won the 2002 British Superbike Championship with a final tally of eight race victories, 10 pole positions and 13 fastest laps
Broke the Donington Park lap record in 2002, Hislop recording a faster time than Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP pole-position lap in the same year
Accompanied by an original race-worn Hislop race suit and crash helmet
Includes its ultra-rare original Magnetti Marelli data logger
Accompanied by copies of the original hand-written Paul Bird Motorsport race sheets from the successful 2002 season
A shoo-in entry for the world’s biggest motorsport events, including the Goodwood Festival of Speed
A factory Ducati Corse-built 998RS
The British Superbike Championship
The frenzied appeal of domestic series such as the British Superbike Championship in the early noughties was down largely to the fact that the bikes taking part were not dissimilar to those which could be found in showrooms at the time. That was unlike MotoGP with its bespoke ground-up thoroughbreds, which bore little resemblance to their road-going counterparts. It was also a period before digital had entirely usurped analogue – when the skill and mettle of a rider made all the difference on the racetrack, not the complexity of his or her bike’s suite of electronic aids.
The 2002 British Superbike Championship was teed up particularly nicely. Two-thousand and one had ended in spectacular fashion after an intense year-long title battle between John Reynolds and Steve Hislop. Both on Ducati hardware, though running under different banners, the two had fought tooth-and-nail all season. Reynolds ultimately triumphed after Hislop was injured in a nasty accident during the penultimate round at Rockingham – a dramatic though somewhat anticlimactic end to an otherwise titanic contest. Recovery and redemption were on Hislop’s mind going into 2002…
The Flying Haggis
A Scottish motorsport legend and one of British motorcycling’s greatest ‘what-ifs’, Steve Hislop – affectionately known as ‘Hizzy’ or ‘The Flying Haggis’ – tragically passed away in 2003 at the age of just 41. In 1989, the Hawick-born rider became the very first person to lap the infamous Isle of Man TT course at an average of 120mph, a feat that had previously been deemed impossible.
Indeed, the Isle of Man is where ‘Hizzy’ carved his greatest impression. Between 1983 and 2003, he clinched 11 outright victories on the Snaefell Mountain Circuit, including four in the premier Senior race. The winner of the 1990 British 250cc Supercup, Hislop went on to become British Superbike Champion twice, in 1995 and 2002. Alas, his commercial savvy off the bike was no match for his talent on it and what was tipped to be a glittering Grand Prix career simply never materialised.
Redemption
The 2002 British Superbike Championship is where the Ducati offered, frame number VS5801, enters the fray, for it was on this very 998RS that Steve Hislop dominated the season to win the Riders’ title and close one hell of a redemption arc after the agony of 2001. Racing for the MonsterMob Ducati UK team, which was operated by Paul Bird Motorsport, Hislop won eight races, started from pole position 10 times and recorded 13 fastest laps. Satisfyingly, ‘Hizzy’ also left his old foe John Reynolds, who’d joined the newly formed Rizla Suzuki outfit, firmly in the dust.
Riding this single bike all year, Hislop won races at Silverstone, Knockhill, Brands Hatch, and two apiece at Oulton Park and Cadwell Park, respectively. It was at Donington Park during the 13th and final round of the season that Hislop sealed this particular campaign in motorsport legend forever. After an admittedly mediocre penultimate race at Mallory Park, the championship leader was adamant on sealing his title victory in style. “I am determined to prove a point or two here, having taken a lot of flak after my performance in the previous round,” he remarked. “I intend to be a worthy champion.”
Sure enough, in qualifying, ‘Hizzy’ shattered the Donington Park lap record, recording a 1min31. 457sec. That was an astonishing tenth of a second quicker than the pole lap recorded by Valentino Rossi on his full-fat MotoGP Honda in the same year. That Hislop was quicker on a Superbike, essentially a GT3 car to Rossi’s GTE car, was remarkable. In fact, it’s a feat that, in bike circles, is still spoken of today. And it occurred on this very Ducati.
The best kind of office art
Despite winning the Riders’ title and helping MonsterMob Ducati finish second in the Manufacturers’ standings, Hislop lost his ride at Paul Bird Motorsport at the end of 2002. His championship-winning Ducati spent the next 12 years doubling as an art installation in Paul Bird’s office at Paul Bird Motorsport HQ. It was subsequently sold to Tony Oneil, who displayed it within his famous Oneil Ducati collection, before being acquired by its current owner in 2019. Not only was the engine rebuilt by Paul Bird Motorsport, but the bike’s mechanics were recommissioned with a view to it being ridden on parade laps.
The cruellest twist of fate befell Steve Hislop in 2003, when he was killed in a helicopter crash. Today, this Ducati 998RS stands as a tribute to his raw talent, his extraordinary courageousness and, ultimately, his success at a time when, to the outside world, the ‘Flying Haggis’ was at the peak of his powers. In beautifully original yet fully operational condition, this nine-time British Superbike race-winning Ducati is accompanied by an original race-worn 2002 Hislop race suit and crash helmet, copies of the original hand-written Paul Bird Motorsport race sheets from the successful 2002 season and its ultra-rare original Magnetti Marelli data logger. Needless to say, with its Hislop provenance, VS5801 would be a shoo-in entry for the world’s biggest motorsport events, the Goodwood Festival of Speed very much included.
Price: £180, 000 (GBP)
