Godspeed, Paul Smart

Admin · October 28, 2021

Paul Smart was killed in a motorcycle accident October 27, 2021. Smart was the winner of the first Imola 200 in 1972 for Ducati. (Cycle World Archives/)

Paul Smart, the legendary winner of the first Imola 200 in 1972, died yesterday at the age of 78 in a road accident in England. Smart was out riding his motorcycle, as he did every day.

Smart’s love for motorcycling began in his teen years. Since he was good at the game and fully enjoyed it, he attended the Charles Mortimer Race School at Brands Hatch, where he proved very capable. In 1966 Mortimer took him under his wing and provided support by letting Smart enter events on the school’s spare bikes. His first solid success came the following year at the Isle of Man TT, where Smart took second in the 750 Production class aboard a Paul Dunstall Norton Atlas. In 1969 he did it again.

That same year, Smart’s racing career exploded. He became a major star on British short circuits, riding a wide range of bikes ranging from Nortons to two-stroke Yamaha twins to Triumph Trident triples.

In 2006 Ducati honored Smart with a special-edition Paul Smart 1000 Replica LE, a limited-production machine based on the Ducati 1000 Sport S. (Bruno dePrato/)

His legendary victory came in 1972, when Ducati hired Smart to race its new 750 SS Desmo at the Imola 200. His friendly personality meant he was popular with Ducati’s team mechanics. His ability to master a machine that was not only totally new to him, but had nothing in common with the British 750cc bikes he had raced until then, impressed Dr. Fabio Taglioni. Smart was fast and consistent in testing despite his lack of familiarity with Imola, an exceptionally demanding track. Although he found himself dissatisfied with the Desmo’s heavy front-end geometry, Smart promptly adapted his riding style, visibly leaning his chest farther into the corners.

Paul Smart as we’ll always remember him: at Imola, at speed, and on Ducati’s 750 SS Desmo. Godspeed. (Ducati/)

For the Imola race, Smart would be teamed with—and pitted against—Ducati mainstay Bruno Spaggiari, a man of enormous experience with Ducati racebikes. Spaggiari was almost 40 years old, but still very fast. At the start of the race the pair took off; only Giacomo Agostini tried to stay with them. Spaggiari and Smart went side by side for the full distance, but Smart had gained a lead of a handful of yards by refueling time. He pitted first and took a full load of fuel; Spaggiari, very close behind, tried to make up lost ground by taking on less gas. The gamble didn’t pay off. Smart won and Spaggiari finished second with a dead engine.

Smart soon raced again for Ducati, on its 500 GP twin, but was hired by Hansen Kawasaki to race in the USA. He retired from racing in 1978 and graduated to the business side of motorcycling with notable success.

Smart at Talladega 1972 on a Kawasaki. (Cycle World Archives/)

Smart married Barry Sheene’s sister Maggie, and the couple had two children: Scott, also a racer, and Paula.

In 2006 Ducati honored Smart by creating the Paul Smart 1000 Replica LE, a lovely sportbike based on the Ducati 1000 Sport S. The distinctive tribute bike is one of the all-time most desirable Ducatis.

In Paul Smart, motorcycling has lost a great champion; the world has lost a wonderful man. Godspeed, Paul. Your No. 16 Ducati 750 SS is waiting for you whenever you’re ready.

Smart was not only a formidable racer, but a wonderful human being. RIP. (Cycle World Archives/)