Eraldo Ferracci inducted into AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame

Eraldo Ferracci spent four decades turning Ducatis into American champions from a workshop in Pennsylvania before the sport paid him back with its highest honour. The Italian born engine builder and team owner has been inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame as part of its class of 2026, recognised for building Ducati's first factory road racing team in the United States and for the championships that team won.

A racer in Italy, a builder in America

Ferracci was born in Italy in 1938 and first made his name there as a national drag racing and road racing champion, according to the American Motorcyclist Association's own profile of the 2026 Hall of Fame class, published on its site americanmotorcyclist.com. He moved to the United States in 1967 and spent the next decade competing in American drag racing, setting national records along the way, according to Motorsports NewsWire's report on his induction.

In 1980 he founded Fast by Ferracci, a performance parts and race engineering business based in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, that built a reputation for race winning machinery across several disciplines, Motorsports NewsWire reported.

Building Ducati's first American factory team

Ducati asked Ferracci in 1988 to set up the marque's first factory backed road racing team in the United States, according to Motorsports NewsWire and to the AMA's own profile of his career. Under his leadership, the Fast by Ferracci Ducati squad won back to back FIM World Superbike Championships with Doug Polen in 1991 and 1992, then the AMA Superbike Championship with Polen in 1993 and with Troy Corser in 1994, both sources report. Cycle News, covering the induction ceremony, noted that Corser's 1994 title remained Ducati's last AMA Superbike championship until 2024, underlining how long Ferracci's team stood at the top of the sport.

Ferracci also ran a Fast by Ferracci Husqvarna team that became, according to the AMA's profile, the first non Japanese manufacturer team to win an AMA 125cc Pro Motocross race. He is a member of the FIM World Superbike Hall of Fame and a founding member of the Ducati North America Hall of Fame, the AMA profile states.

A September ceremony in Ohio

The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame class of 2026, which also included off road racer Russell Bobbitt, supercross rider Damon Bradshaw, flat track champion Jake Johnson, safety advocate Gary Sellers and drag racer Dale Walker, was inducted at a ceremony in Pickerington, Ohio, Cycle News reported. Three time world champion Freddie Spencer presented Ferracci's honour. Motorsports NewsWire quoted Ferracci's own words on the night: "It is an honor to be inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame. I want to thank the AMA, the Hall of Fame, and the Life Members who voted for me."

Why this reaches Indian Ducati owners

Ferracci's Fast by Ferracci team gave Ducati its first FIM World Superbike titles in 1991 and 1992, the foundation of a racing identity the brand still sells on today, including in India. Ducati operates through nine authorised showrooms across eight Indian cities, from Delhi and Mumbai to Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, according to the dealer listing on ZigWheels. In Mumbai, Ducati has displayed the actual 2023 Panigale V4 R race machine that Alvaro Bautista rode to a WorldSBK round win, a bike built to the same lineage that Ferracci's team began on American tracks three decades earlier, BikeWale reported. The road going Panigale V4 R, the WSBK homologation model that Indian buyers can order, is priced from ₹84.99 lakh ex showroom, BikeWale reported.

Ducati also marked its global centenary in India this year with a DRE Track Day for owners at the Buddh International Circuit near Delhi, where more than 70 riders took to the track across three training levels and 150 Ducatisti gathered for an evening celebration, BikeWale reported.

For Ducatisti in India who track WSBK and AMA Superbike history online, Ferracci's hall of fame induction is a reminder that the red bikes sold here carry a racing record built, in part, out of a Pennsylvania workshop most Indian riders have never heard of until now.

Sources

• AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2026 Nominees
• AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Inducts Six New Members
• Eraldo Ferracci Inducted Into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame
• Ducati India DRE Track Day is a Community led Centenary Start
• Ducati Panigale V4 R WSBK Championship Winning Bike Showcased in India