Source: Bike Bound
[[{“value”:”Queen of the Desert: Vendetta Racing’s 192-whp Ducati Turbo Land Speeder…
If there’s one place in the world where one-off two-wheeled ingenuity meets purpose-built performance, it’s the storied Bonneville Salt Flats just west of Salt Lake City, Utah. The remnant of Lake Bonneville — a Pleistocene-era “paleolake” — the Flats are 12 miles long with a crust five inches thick. Here, in various events from August to October each year, Bonneville Speedway plays host to the fastest wheeled machines on the planet.
We made the pilgrimage to the AMA Motorcycle Speed Trials in 2021 and marveled at the creative engineering, rider bravery, and all-encompassing camaraderie on display — this is truly a holy realm for speed freaks, especially those who travel on two wheels. Here, Star Wars meets old-school hot roddery, and the visions are almost otherworldly.
Miracle at the Bonneville Salt Flats
This year a new team and one-off land speeder will join the action all the way from the United Arab Emirates: Vendetta Racing UAE and their turbocharged Ducati 998 “Priscilla,” named after the 90s cult classic Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
We first met veteran racer and builder Alan Boyter of Vendetta Racing UAE and VRcustoms when we featured his Ducati 996 cafe racer, but that’s just a tiny slice of what he and his team have accomplished since their inception in 2007.
“The Team has grown in numbers, disciplines, and accolades, competing in various on and off-road championships, local and international including some big ticket events such as the Isle of Man Manx GP (twice) and Dakar (3 times).”
Project X: Ducati 996 Café Racer
Now they’ve set their sights on a world record at Bonneville with the machine you see here, built around a Ducati 998 engine with a Garrett GBC 17-250 turbocharger tuned to 192 rear wheel horsepower on VP109 race fuel. The class is FIM I.A1.A II.2 1000cc (SCTA/AMA 1000-A-BG), which translates to two-cylinder, custom chassis design, non-NA (turbo/supercharger/nitrous allowed), and non-streamline — aka naked.
To be competitive in the class, modifying a standard bike wasn’t even a consideration. The entire chassis would have to be designed and built from a blank sheet:
“After lots of homework studying what has been successful in the past it was decided that having the front wheel, rider, engine then rear wheel all in line will keep wind resistance to a minimum. This throws up all sorts of challenges such as steering design and length, but this is a build designed to break a record so playing things safe and easy…wasn’t even considered.”
An 8-bearing duplex steering design keeps the front fork height as low as possible, while the short exhaust allows the turbo to be mounted inboard out of the wind. A massive intercooler, built in-house, feeds a custom airbox, while a Precision Turbo blow-off valve ejects excess pressure. A programmable Microtec ECU is linked to the AIM dashboard, and the bike is running around 1 Bar (14.5 psi) of boost. The 16/33 gearing and 200/60 rear tire equate to a theoretical top speed of 240+ mph.
Just dynoing such a bike presented a challenge, so the Vendetta Racing team created the “Frankenbike” — a Ducati 1098 frame with the entire engine, induction / cooling systems, and electrics transplanted in to fit the dynamometer:
“With an exhaust where the seat would normally be and a throttle crudely welded where your left thigh would be it wasn’t a pretty build. Nicknamed Frankenbike, it endured four days on MP Performance’s Dyno (@mp.performance), 128 runs in total.”
The Frankenbike
Despite the bike’s length, weight is just 231 kilograms (509 pounds), and the team has their sights set on not only beating the record, but breaking the 200-mph barrier.
“The current record was set in 2017 with an average speed of 166.785mph. Our plan is two-fold: break the current record and then move it past the 200mph mark. Not an easy challenge!”
Heavy rains and flooding have delayed their testing, but hopefully the weather will clear for Alan to get some good seat (belly?) time on this turbo Ducati land speeder.
“Laying down to ride a bike is very unnatural and although the controls are all in familiar places (apart from the thumb rear brake to control wheelspin), it’s going to be a very strange and quite frightening experience.”
We’ll have our fingers crossed for the team this race season, and if you’re keen to sponsor or support the project, don’t hesitate to reach out to Alan via the Vendetta Racing UAE website. Below, we talk to Alan himself for the full details on the build!
Turbo Ducati 998 LSR: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
Alan Boyter, founder of Vendetta Racing UAE and VRcustoms. The race team was started in 2007 to compete in the local Sportsbike Championship. Since then, the Team has grown in numbers, disciplines, and accolades, competing in various on and off-road championships, local and international including some big ticket events such as the Isle of Man Manx GP (twice) and Dakar (3 times). This current build, however, is to try and conquer something very different: a world land speed record.
The history of this build started in 2021 at the Dubai Motorcycle Film Festival where the feature documentary followed a Swiss team who built a motorcycle to race on the Bonneville salt flats. The bike in question was using a Ducati 998 engine, the same engine I just happened to have laying around in the workshop! It didn’t take long for a small dream to turn into reality.
The bike has been quietly in build for the last two years in the small home garage of VR customs, whose creations have been published on BikeBound before.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the donor bike?
The engine is a standard (but fully rebuilt) Ducati 998 shallow sump with a Garrett GBC 17-250 Turbo. Wheels, swingarm, rear caliper, and rear shock was taken from a Aprilla RSV Factory with a modified sprocket carrier to fit a custom-made 33t rear sprocket.
Pegs, clutch, and brake master cylinder are taken from a Ducati 1098 (laying around from a previous project).
Everything else from the frame, front steering setup, wiring loom, airbox, radiator, etc. are all fabricated from scratch.
• For what class of racing was the bike built?
The class is FIM I.A1.A II.2 1000cc (or SCTA/AMA 1000-A-BG), which is a 2 cylinder, custom chassis design, non-naturally aspirated (Turbo/Supercharger/Nitrous allowed) and non-streamlined…a naked, no fairing class.
The current record was set in 2017 with an average speed of 166.785mph. Our plan is two-fold: break the current record and then move it past the 200mph mark. Not an easy challenge!
• What custom work/upgrades have been done?
The frame was designed and fabricated in-house. After lots of homework studying what has been successful in the past it was decided that having the front wheel, rider, engine then rear wheel all in line will keep wind resistance to a minimum. This throws up all sorts of challenges such as steering design and length, but this is a build designed to break a record so playing things safe and easy such as modifying a current bike to suit land speed wasn’t even considered.
The 8-bearing duplex steering design stems back to the 1920’s and 30’s where it was first used on OEC motorcycles. Coincidentally, FIM land speed records were set using these bikes at the time, but the choice for this application was purely to reduce the front end height as the current set up is less than half the height of conventional forks.
There are several advantages of building a bike from a blank sheet of paper, such as building in maintenance accessibility and using components that are readily available (eg fuel tank, pump, filter and regulator are all standalone car parts).
The wiring loom is a one-off based on a previous Ducati Supercharged project using only the basic sensors required to run the fully programmable Microtec ECU and all hooked to an AIM dash.
The exhaust to the turbo is kept as short as possible, mostly to keep the Garrett GBC 17-250 inboard. The compressed air is fed through a massive intercooler (made in-house) to a custom alloy airbox. Excess pressure is bled through a Precision Turbo blow-off valve.
Two Siemens Deka injectors feed VP109 race fuel in a shower configuration from the top of the custom airbox which is bolted down to the throttle bodies ensuring a secure and tight fit when on 1 Bar of boost.
The cooling system is a mix of custom and OEM parts, notably the custom radiator (also made in-house) which sits behind the intercooler.
• Does the bike have a nickname?
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Named by my cousin’s daughter. A drag bike built in the desert….
• Any idea of horsepower, weight, and/or performance numbers?
Weight is a surprisingly light, 231kg, while the engine now creates a 67% increase of power over standard, 192bhp at the wheel.
This was initially achieved on standard ’98 pump fuel but the engine has been tuned using VP109 race fuel. This give better protection against detonation and more importantly, is an approved fuel to be used at Bonneville.
The engine, entire induction system, cooling system, and electrics were transplanted into a modified 1098 frame (with front and back ends borrowed from Vendetta Racing’s own 1198 race bike) so it would all fit on a dyno.
Frankenbike!
With an exhaust where the seat would normally be and a throttle crudely welded where your left thigh would be it wasn’t a pretty build. Nicknamed Frankenbike, it endured four days on MP Performance’s Dyno (@mp.performance), 128 runs in total.
The final drive sprockets are 16t front and a tiny 33t rear. This along with the 200/60 rear tyre gives a theoretical top speed of over 240mph.
• Can you tell us what it’s like to ride/race this bike?
Not yet. Laying down to ride a bike is very unnatural and although the controls are all in familiar places (apart from the thumb rear brake to control wheelspin), it’s going to be a very strange and quite frightening experience.
Our testing time has been delayed due to the recent storms and flooding which has damaged some of our initial testing locations.
• Anybody you’d like to thank?
• My wife for instantly agreeing to yet another epic racing endeavor.
• Tom Richardson, who has been filming the build since last year and is putting together a documentary for the project.
• Tim Ansel for his tenacity in chasing sponsors, photographing the build, and general help and enthusiasm.
• Usman (@iusman93) for coming aboard and taking over our media channels.
Finally, to those yet to give support. It’s a phenomenal opportunity to put your brand / name on a project that’ll enter the record books soon!
For those who are keen to be part of this project and have your brand associated with us, please get in touch. We are flexible and happy to chat around how we can best support your brand and bring value to it.
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Follow the Builder
Web: www.vendettaracinguae.com
Instagram: @vendettaracinguae | @vrcustoms_uae
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