Alpinestars celebrate 55th birthday with custom Ducati

Italian clothing brand Alpinestars will celebrate its 55th birthday at the Austin MotoGP round and has unveiled this Ducati 750-based custom built by Michael Woolaway.

The Oscar by Alpinestars, which has been created by Woolies Workshop in California, and the challenge was to communicate the heritage of the brand, its rightful place in history, connecting the beginning of the OSCAR by Alpinestars legendary charisma to today’s forefront of technology and style.

There are references to Alpinestars’ history throughout the bike, like the thumb rear brake as a special nod to Mick Doohan and the style of the seat that recalls Nicky Hayden’s Ducati, both riders very significant to Alpinestars history and close to boss Gabriele Mazzarolo.

“Alpinestars has covered my body and protected me for all the years I have raced. I have watched it go from its start in boot manufacturing in motocross, to leather race suits, to the mind-boggling innovation baked into the Tech-Air suit they recently brought to the US market," said Woolaway.

"So, after talking with Gabriele at Laguna Seca two years ago, I found a new 1974 Ducati 750 Sport race engine still in a crate. This motor was built to period race spec and would be the perfect Italian heart of the bike.

"But the bike also had to have current race spec components to tell the whole 'new and old' story of this brand with styling from 1960’s Italian GP and a bit of more modern Ducati GP. Legendary frame builder Jeff Cole and I collaborated on the frame, and Jeff agreed to build the central section for this project."

Contributing manufacturers helped fuel the design and specifications of the build. Akrapovic made the MotoGP-level exhaust system. Another MotoGP linked partner was Michelin who came on board to supply tyre technology and a number of other special and highly skilled collaborators participated to the project.