“In the 1970s, the Borgo Panigale brand was concentrated on developing their production models and investment in racing was very limited. Smart’s victory was quite unexpected; as talented as he was, no one thought he had a chance against Agostini on his MV Agusta. The bike Smart rode was a touring bike, a Gran Tourismo 750 and the first Ducati to have a desmodromic engine. The Ducati GT 750 had the frame, suspension, engine and brakes of a production model touring bike, while Agostini’s MV Agusta was a 500cc built specifically for racing.

With a small but very professional team to support him, Smart started the Imola 200 Miles with his bike tweaked to perfection. On the fourth lap, the English pilot caught up with Agostini and his MV Agusta. »