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A Ducati at Ascari
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S4Rs
Basem Wasef
05/01/2006
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The Spanish Andalusian countryside is an endless rhythm of hills, ancient trees
and bleached medieval cities—possibly one of the last places one would expect to
establish a world-class racetrack. Yet, after months of searching, Dutch racing
enthusiast Klaas Zwart, a resident of Marbella, discovered the future home of
his Ascari Race Resort while piloting a Eurocopter 130 above the virgin terrain
just outside of Ronda.
Following the sale of his oil business in 1999, Zwart
embarked on a quest to build the ultimate private racetrack and club. A winner
of the EuroBoss race series in 2003, Zwart’s familiarity with Formula One
courses initiated his idea of what makes a great track. He then walked, cycled,
and drove circuits from Monza to Sebring in order to digest the scale,
proportion, and sense of occasion that distinguishes those legendary tracks.
Covering 3.5 miles—the longest in Spain—Ascari winds effortlessly through
the landscape, capitalizing on natural elevation changes. “Some of the Spanish
Oak and Encinas trees are hundreds of years old,” Zwart explains, “and we built
this track with an absolute minimum impact on the environment,” adding that only
a dozen trees were removed in the process. The graceful course is a merging of
aesthetics with the realities of economics and structural engineering. The
result is both scenically grandiose and technically challenging.
 The Termignoni-tweaked S4Rs. (Click image to enlarge)
The track
features homages to famous landmarks such as the downhill drop through Eau Rouge
curve from the Spa Francorchamps circuit and Copse corner from Silverstone where
Alberto Ascari, the F/1 driver who inspired the track’s name, won twice. Though
Ascari boasts its share of tight, technical turns, its fast sections are also
challenging in a hair-raising, manhood-affirming sort of way.
Zwart’s vision
involves more than just paving a great racetrack into the countryside; his
ultimate goal is to create a total experience in which the track is the
centerpiece of a resort that includes a seven-star hotel and spa.
The track
timeshare and driving school are the first seeds of the Ascari experience to
come to fruition, while the hotel and spa are slated for completion in 2008.
Timeshare members such as former Formula One driver Martin Brundle and British
vocalist Jay Kay utilize their yearly allotment of 51 days of track time with
personal exotics like Pagani Zondas and Ferrari Enzos. A lifetime membership
costs e125,000. Members and non-members can also rent track cars, or learn the
intricacies of high performance driving in everything from a Lotus Elise or BMW
Compact to a Reynard F3000 or even one of a pair of 735-horsepower 1996 Benetton
F/1 cars.
 Ascari Race Resort from the air. (Click image to enlarge)
“We don’t just let anyone out in the Benettons,” Zwart emphasizes,
pointing out that potential drivers of the Formula One cars must first prove
their skill in an F3000. The fee for driving the F/1 car is e500 per lap.
While Formula One racecars offer an unparalleled sensation of speed, thrill
seekers need not accumulate a five-figure bill in a half-million dollar vehicle
to pilot a seriously quick machine at Ascari. Proving that motorcycles offer an
astonishing adrenaline-to-dollar ratio, Ducati’s new 130-horsepower Monster
S4Rs—the company’s latest and most powerful naked bike—was not incongruous at
the lush Ascari track during its world premiere there.
Originally introduced
13 years ago with 73 horsepower, the Monster has enjoyed a gradual infusion of
technology and power from its more sophisticated stablemates. This particular
Monster is touted by Ducati as the most evolved yet, essentially a true
superbike, sans bodywork. In fact, the S4Rs is so focused as a high-performance
bike that Ducati chose to highlight it only within the confines the track,
ignoring the picturesque roads surrounding the Ascari property.
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