Why only Ducati was an option for Advocates Racing boss Lee Khouri

Like the recently deceased Marc van der Straten, Lecha Khouri is also a motorsport fan through and through. There are parallels: the 45-year-old runs his grandfather’s property business and has never had any financial worries. On the contrary: the Australian has the necessary spare cash to indulge in outrageously expensive hobbies. Such as his Superbike teams in the British series and the World Championship.

Another passion of his is Italian cars and motorbikes. Khouri is particularly taken with Ducatis, and he owns many of them. A great many. “I love Italian cars – Ferraris, Lamborghinis, simply everything Italian – but also motorbikes. Ducati is, of course, my absolute favourite. I saw a brand-new 1098 S for the first time. I ordered it straight away, shortly after I’d got my motorbike licence,” Khouri revealed in an interview with Ducati UK. “As soon as I sat on it, I was hooked. I’d caught the Ducati bug. Then I wanted a 1098R, then the Desmosedici came out. And so it went on and on; I always bought the latest models.”

The Advocates team owner now has one of the largest private Ducati collections. “About eight or ten years ago, I decided to get my hands on all the classic models – the early ones. In the end, I bought all the 916s, the 996, the 998 and the Triple Nine. I own them all – not just one, but two or three of each. For example, I have three of the old 916 Foggy Edition. And three Supermonos,” the businessman listed. “I ended up buying every old model I could get my hands on, like the 888 A – simply all of them. So I kept collecting older and older models until I had almost all of them. It’s like an addiction. But they just look absolutely stunning, don’t they? Like works of art.”

Khouri continued: “I’ve got an MH900e in my living room, and it looks absolutely fantastic. Back then, it was remarkable that you could order them online from Ducati. I didn’t order one; I was too young and still at school. But people ordered them straight off the internet. Apparently they sold out within an hour, even via dial-up internet. Unbelievable! My motorbike is brand new and came straight out of the box. Actually, I should have left it in the box, but I unpacked it anyway. And it just looked stunning. I simply had to park it in the living room, where the kids and I spend our time, and now it’s standing right there in the middle of it all and looks fantastic.”

When the 999 came out, they were completely off the mark.

Lecha Khouri

Khouri’s current favourite Ducati is the model on which his compatriot Troy Bayliss won the 2006 Superbike World Championship. “I’m absolutely thrilled with the 999 at the moment, both the Fila and the Xerox liveries. I think they look stunning. They’ve got that futuristic Robocop look and are right back in fashion now. I’d say that, over time, they’ve become increasingly beautiful and appealing. When they first came out, they were completely off the mark,” the Australian admitted. “Many people say it looks better today than the 916 series. Time will tell, but at the moment the 999 is my absolute favourite, which is why I own every single version that’s ever been built. I’m absolutely mad about them! And apart from the 999, the 916 is one of my absolute favourite classics – especially the 955 SPA. Ducati only built a few of this model, and I own one of them in my collection.”