Written by Martin Hodgson
More than 100 years ago Intrepid Birdmen in aircraft cobbled together from anything they could find were taking to the skies in air races, this just a few years after aviation was even a thing. And just like ‘Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines’ a new breed of adrenaline junkies with the skills to build incredible contraptions are at it again. They’re called the ‘Sultans of Sprint’ and the asphalt 1/8th mile is the troposphere where they do battle, on bikes as bananas as those old planes. Very few fulfil that centuries old ethos like Belgium’s Bernard Mont and in 2018 he’s returned with a lay down and mash the gas, hub-centre steer Ducati. It?s known as Nowhere Faster.
Originally from the village of Mettet, Bernard shares a racing pedigree as impressive as the nearby circuit where winners include Agostini, Surtees and Duke. ?My professional career began at the end of the eighties in race cars, in the French Rally Championship, European F3000 Championship and Belgian Production Championship?? explains Mont, trailing off as he reminisces about his years of speed. By day he’s spent the last 25 years as a mechanical engineer, while in his down time he runs a small Ducati tuning business. And in his ?free free time? as he calls it, he builds bikes for himself like Nowhere Faster.
25 inches of trouble
?My first complete project was the ?Ducati TT3 Difazio?, a tribute to Taglioni and Difazio bui...