[MerlinPV12]

There we're 8 finalists, of which I was one with Fenella, who the majority on here will know. I only found out about the contest when Slob gave me a nudge, my entry went through literally at the 11th hour before the entries closed.

The 8 of us were up at Silverstone for the Saturday and Sunday and having got to know most of the finalists quite well I can say each bike and its owner deserved to win; Sam's bike had a great story behind it and Mike's "748" was clearly a labour of love.

Its a tricky one for Ducati and the judges to nail in the perfect format as I went away thinking had I known the decision was going to be made on a mechanical/technical basis I wouldn't have entered as Fenella could never compete with a track day bike or a £70,000 Foggy rep.

From what Tim Maccabee said during the presentation I think they have "plans" for next year to develop the competition - I'm quietly hoping that some sort of category system can be implemented although I know that's a nightmare to come up with in the first place.

I cant say that I came away disappointed because myself and guest had a great two days courtesy of Ducati who did a great job of hosting and Fenella received her fair share of compliments and it was a cracking ride back home in the glorious sunshine.

I may just have developed the competition bug, so if their are any suggestions of competitions I could enter with Fenella lemi know!