Graham Rahal grew up around race cars. His dad won the Indy 500. He grew up in the paddocks, made his IndyCar debut at 18, and has been at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for 20 years. It’s odd he’s the proudest of the business that has two wheels, not four.
Rahal Ducati is two Ducati motorcycle dealerships in Indiana and Ohio, plus a MotoAmerica road racing team. This business comes from a passion, not a survey that says to enter the powersports business. It all began when Graham bought a single yellow Ducati in 2007.
The Beginning of All Ducati Bikes
Rahal was a Champ Car rookie and spent some of his prize money on a Ducati 1098S. He picked yellow, the less common color compared to red, which is the typical color for the brand. He continued to buy Ducatis after this. He built a collection over 20 years, the kind that happens when he really likes the thing he's collecting.
He’s admitted he never planned to have a dealership or a race team. The business kept growing, and he went from 1 to 2 stores and asked himself why not race.
The dealerships
Now, Rahal Ducati manages the official Ducati dealerships for both Indiana and Ohio. They have showrooms located in Zionsville, Indiana and Cleveland, Ohio. Their dealerships have the capability to both buy and sell used and new Ducatis and also have the capability to perform sales and services for parts. Their other store, Rahal Piaggio, is located in Carmel, Indiana, and provides services for people who want a less aggressive Italian scooter than the Panigale, with options from Vespa, Aprilia, Moto Guzzi, and Piaggio.
The dealerships are also part of GR Brands. This is the first part of Graham Rahal's work activities when he is not racing. Rahal Brands is also the owner of Graham Rahal Performance, a store focused on street car builds and Radical track cars, and also Rahal Paint Protection and Rahal Precision Tint, which are focused on PPF and ceramic coatings. The dealerships are a second genuine business for Graham Rahal, who just loves business and engines, no matter how many wheels they have.
From dealership to race team
In October 2023, Graham and his father Bobby announced Rahal Ducati Moto, a two-bike Supersport entry for the 2024 MotoAmerica season. Bobby announced this in style, bringing his long history of motorsport with him which includes the winning the 1986 Indy 500 and 3 IndyCar championships and also his many years of following Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Bobby would have been in good company with some of his long time acquaintances, such as Freddie Spencer and Eddie Lawson, long before Graham purchased his first Ducati.
Ben Spies was hired as the new team principal to lead this new group and is the first to have necessary bike experience. Ben is already a five-time AMA Superbike Champion, the 2009 World Superbike Champion, and a MotoGP race winner. His presence was enough to show the paddock that the Rahals weren't just purchasing a logo to display on their dealership walls.
The bikes were prepped in Rahal Ducati Indianapolis and then moved to a dedicated GR Brands location in Zionsville. XPEL, the paint protection film company that Rahal had worked with through his car businesses, extended their sponsorship, bringing a company that had always been in Rahal's four wheeled business to now sponsor him in the two wheeled business.
Growing up fast
The 2024 Daytona 200 was the debut of Rahal Ducati Moto and in their first season had all three of their riders finish in the top fifteen. So, for their second season, the team kept the same riders. The third season of the team was the busiest one yet as they were still riding Supersport bikes, but with this season came a full-time move to the Superbike class. This was the first season that the team was riding the new Ducati Panigale V4 R.
This shows exceptional commitment. Supersport teams consistently use production-based 600s. They are popular among the teams present. Superbike draws the factory-based programs. It is the show that MotoAmerica likes to highlight. To compete in this level means a team is bringing in a bigger budget for more crew and staff, especially with the added costs to accommodate the logistics of traveling. This level of competition also brings less ability to rationalize or cover up a large glaring problem on their performance.
Why does this matter outside of Indiana and Ohio?
There is an almost archaic charm to the construction of this system. There are no leveraged buyouts, or poorly conceived research and marketing focused pivot business thinking. A driver decided to buy a bike, kept buying bikes, opened a store, and talked his father into racing them because of the family passion for racing. Bobby Rahal even mentioned during the team launch that he was already running Ducati dealerships and it made sense for them to field a race team.
There are already a large number of testaments for excellent business success with the burgeoning dealership network and other planned expansions. This team is already winning in the Supersport class and is serious with their jump to Superbike.
Rahal Ducati is something to look out for if you're in the Midwest and shopping for a Ducati, or if you enjoy watching families find new ways to go racing. It all began with a single yellow bike financed by rookie season prize money. Now it boasts two dealerships and a Superbike program, proving that some of the best businesses start as someone's costly hobby.
