2007 Ducati Trackfest and Rally (Midwest)

[kevducridr]

Fellow Ducatisti,

Our club has undertaken a plan to start the next Midwest Ducati rally and have chosen this already existing and very successful weekend that we have been co-hosting with STT for going on 4 years now.

We have enlisted the aid of our fellow D.O.C. clubs including Desmohio, Mocha and Drill in the Chicagoland area as well as our own club to help us promote and put on what we hope will be a great Ducati rally and one of the best in the country.

We have invited regional dealers to come out and show their wares and hope to have a number of title sponsors on board such as Red Bull, Repsol and others.

We already have Michelin on board as a title sponsor with more coming and hope to have a carnival atmosphere with special giveaways, merchant area, great food and live entertainment throughout the weekend. Also as always STT will provide the top-notch on track experience we have all come to expect from them.

This event will be held the weekend of August 18, 19th and 20th at Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, Michigan. If you have never been to Gingerman we think you will be impressed with the level of the facilities and the challenging track that the owner has built there.

We will post more information and be mailing out fliers and posters to all involved parties by June, 1st 2007.

We hope to see you all out at the track and look forward to working with our fellow Ducatisti in your club.

For more info you can contact us at info@ducsunlimited.com or you can register and sign up at www.sportbiketracktime.com.

Sincerely,

Kevin Dornton

[kevducridr]

It's officially on!!!



Come on out and support the sport!

Register soon if you plan on riding on the track as this event will sell out. If you don't plan on riding on the track you can still attend as a spectator and enjoy watching some great riding and other festivities throughout the weekend.

Spectators here is the info for the weekend:

Camping $ 5 per night
Gate entry $ 5 per day


More info can be had at info@ducsunlimited.com
The Orbitsuns will be playing Saturday night from 7 pm till 9:30 pm, come check out one of the hottest bands in the Detroit Metro area.

[kevducridr]

We are pleased to announce the addition of Red Bull U.S.A. and Walt Michael's RV Superstore to the list of participants. [clap]

[kevducridr]

We are pleased to announce the additions of Motowheels, Lifecycles Ducati and Visual Illusions to the growing list of vendors for the event.

Lifecycles will be bringing their portable dyno and charging a nominal fee for dyno runs. Check it out at the event!

The event is 60% sold out already for on track participation, so if you are on the fence register soon! Plenty of Novice spots available but Intermediate and Advanced are going quick.

We also will be having special Ducati Great Lakes Trackfest t-shirts made for the event.

[kevducridr]

We also have t-shirts being made for the event here is a sample:

Staff Shirt

[img width=600 height=505]http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t191/capthomeslice/tshirts%20for%20trackfest/44530ef3.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=505]http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t191/capthomeslice/tshirts%20for%20trackfest/66b90a19.jpg[/img]

Normal for sale shirt

[img width=600 height=505]http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t191/capthomeslice/tshirts%20for%20trackfest/7c98e5be.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 height=505]http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t191/capthomeslice/tshirts%20for%20trackfest/99dd52db.jpg[/img]

We will announce when the t-shirts are ready for sale and how much they will be soon.

If anyone is interested in volunteering contact me at info@ducsunlimited.com. Any volunteers will get a free staff shirt for the effort.

I forgot to post this:

Gingerman lodging:

South Haven (5 minutes West) Visitors Bureau 616-637-5252
Guesthouse Inn - 616-639-9900
Holiday Inn Express - 1-269-637-8800
Old Harbor Inn - 616-637-8480
Lake Bluff Motel - 616-637-8531
Econo Lodge & Suites - 616-637-5141
Sunnybrook - 616-637-4796
Sun-N-Sand Motel - 616-637-2000
Hampton Inn 1-269-639-8550

Saugatuck (16 minutes North) Visitors Bureau 616-857-1701
Belvedere Manor - 616-857-5501
Beechwood Manor - 616-857-1587
The Kirby House - 616-857-2904
The Park House - 616-857-4535
Wickwood Inn - 616-857-1465
Bayside Inn - 616-857-4321

St. Joseph (20 minutes South) Visitors Bureau 616-925-6301
Holiday Inn - 616-983-7341
Ramada Inn - 616-927-1172
Days Inn - 616-925-7021
Comfort Inn - 616-925-1880

Holland (30 minutes North) Vistors Bureau 616-394-0000
Holiday Inn - 616-394-0111
Country Inn - 616-396-6677
Days Inn - 616-392-7001
Best Western - 616-396-1424

Benton Harbor (30 minutes South)
Holiday Inn Express - 269-927-4599
Best Western Twin City Inn - 269-925-1880
Red Roof Inn (269) 927-2484
Comfort Suites - (269) 428-4888


The event is over 60% booked so if you are considering coming and riding on the track sign up soon!

[kevducridr]

The shirts have been ordered. They will be $ 25.00 each and are a fully digital print in high rez and look just like the shirts pictures posted above.

If you would like to pre-order before the event to guarantee yours, please send your paypal payment to treasurer@ducsunlimited.com and include $ 6.00 for shipping and put "Trackfest T-shirt" in the comments box. We can also hold them and you can pick them up at the event. Either way just let us know. Supplies are limited.

Sizes will be SM - XXL

Thanks for your interest!

We want to stress to everyone that this is a rally and festival first, trackday second. We will be having an exhaust sound off competition, Ducati bike display area, raffles, info booth, dyno runs, yard games, childrens area, demo rides and vendor area. Not to mention the food, live band, and other yet to be announced attractions. We will be supplying Gatorade and water for all Ducati owners throughout the weekend as well. So even if you don't want to or can't do the trackyday portion come out and see all the things the area has to offer and the events going on at the track. Gingerman is located about 5 miles from South Haven Michigan which is on Lake Michigan. There are a ton of things to do in and around the town and some great riding along the coast of Western Michigan.

[rainmancp]

looks nice

[kevducridr]

Thanks!

Just a note to everyone, demo rides will be every hour on the hour throughout the weekend and you must sign a waiver to participate. They will be starting at 9am and running until 5 pm.

The Vendor Area and Dyno will run the same hours as well. Please support the vendors that come to the event as without their participation the event would not be what it is.

We will be having seperate raffles each day at the event. There will be a grand prize given each day. Each Ducati owner or trackday participant will get one free raffle ticket, additional tickets can be purchased for $ 2 each. We will announce the location of the raffle drawing each day and where more tickets can be purchased. You need not be present to win.

Sorry for the lack of information but we have been putting in tons of effort and time to work out the details of all this stuff. There are a lot of participants and much to cover.

We will have an Info Booth setup with the weekend schedule, area guides from local chambers of commerce and visitor centers, track and paddock maps, lists of local hotels and more.

Any questions can be directed to info@ducsunlimited.com.

[kevducridr]

Thanks to those that attended the event! Weather wasn't ideal all weekend but it was fun none the less.

Here is my event report:

Today it rained up until about 10am or so. Track eventually dried and stayed that way up until 4 pm. Got some good sessions in before we needed to pack up the multitudes of stuff from the weekend.

A special thanks to all those from our club and others that attended the weekend whether riding on the track or not and to those that brought there fine Italian steeds out for display in the Concourse of Excellence. For those that didn't make it out you missed out on a great time. The only thing that stopped the event from being completely off the hook was the rain from Saturday afternoon on through Sunday. We still toughed it out and made the most of the weekend as individuals and as a club. Next year's event planning has already begun in earnest and we look forward to bigger and better things in year 2.

Btw, we sold out of event shirts and had a great weekend selling gear and other stuff. Gained a few members too!

Thanks to all the companies that donated items for the raffle, we gave away nearly 40 items! We had fantastic interest and participation in the raffle.

Thanks to the Orbitsuns for another great performance, they gained many new fans this weekend from around the region.

Thanks to all our fellow DOC clubs as DesmOhio, DRILL, Mocha, DOCC and the Hoosier Hooligans were represented. Thanks to DRILL, DesmOhio and HH for the beer and fire. It was rainy and cold, but the company of new and old friends took the edge off.

Thanks to Lifecycles Ducati, Rosenau, Metalworks Sign Co and others for participating as vendors and sticking it out in less than desirable weather on Sunday. I think everyone really enjoyed the test rides and especially the Hypermotard which I finally snuck a ride in on Sunday. WOW is all I can say, one cool bike.

Special thanks to Ducati North America, Elliot Cho, Vicki Smith and Rich for their guidance, participation and support throughout the weekend. You guys were life savers and your knowledge is irreplaceable. Special thanks to Grant, his staff and Red Bull USA for their participation and dedication to the event despite less than ideal weather conditions. Special thanks to our long time sponsors and friends Monte and Bonnie, the instructors and coaches from STT as without their excellent on-track program and existing event we would not have had the opportunity we did to start this event. A special thanks to Gary track manager, his corner workers and support staff and Gingerman Raceway for providing an ideal setting and fantastic facility with which to grow this event into the national event that Ducati and the DOC clubs envision. Ducati, STT and Red Bull have already expressed interest in returning next year to do it again but in bigger fashion. Stay tuned.......as planning has begun.

And last but not least, a HUGE thanks to Stu, Phil, Keith, Steve, Jesse, Kevin Wooding, Don, Mike, Tim, Jon, Jeff Betzler Baldy and son, our fellow DOC club members Mario (Hoosier Hooligans), Eric (DesmOhio) and Seth (DRILL) and anyone else that lent physical or material help to the effort for the event. Without your help and effort the event would not have been pulled together. We put in a solid 8 hours of setup work on Friday and more on Saturday morning and without the efforts of everyone it wouldn't have gone off as well as it did. I just hope that everyone had a good time, I'm already looking forward to next year......

Here are some pics that Vicky took from the weekend. If you have any please email them to info@ducsunlimited.com.

A couple of my favs:











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