MDA: Ducati Hypermoto Best in Show at EICMA
The Motorcycle Design Association (MDA) voted Ducati’s Hypermoto as the “Best of Show” design at the recent EICMA show in Milan. Several models were proposed, ranging from the Derbi Rambla scooter to Sergio Robbiano’s Bimota Delirio, yet the MDA said the Ducati team had produced “a fresh and an exciting design within the limitations of a long-established engine and chassis package.”
The MDA is an organization made up of more than 100 independent and in-house motorcycle designers from throughout the world. Members were asked to vote for the most impressive design introduced at the show. Models presented at Paris and other shows held earlier in the year were exempt.
The award will be presented to Ducati design chief Pierre Terblanche by the MDA’s Italian Representative Filippo Corticelli at the Ducati factory in Bologna.
The main 2005 Motorcycle Design Awards will be announced in early January. The newly designed trophies, including the Paris and Milan “Best of Show” awards, are being produced by Dutch suspension specialists Hyperpro.
In other MDA news, this year’s MDA Honorary Membership was presented to Gerald Kiska, chief designer of KTM product since 1992. Kiska received the award in recognition of his having promoted a design-led approach with KTM, and for pioneering “edge-design” in two-wheel applications. Glynn Kerr, president and co-founder of the MDA, says Kiska’s influence on current motorcycle styling can be seen on models coming from a number of manufacturers.
Kerr presented Kiska with the Honorary Membership at the MDA’s Designers’ Night, held at the Milan Science & Technology Museum during the recent EICMA show. Thereafter, Kiska gave a short seminar illustrating his company’s work.
Previous Honorary Membership recipients were: Massimo Tamburini, 2001 (CRC); Willie G. Davidson (Harley-Davidson), 2002; Mitsuyoshi Kohama (Honda), 2003; and Atsushi Ishiyama (GK Dynamics/Yamaha), 2004.
