With the news that Federico Minoli is leaving Ducati, the company loses an enthusiast and a great believer in the Ducati mystique.

Minoli gets the champagne treatment in 2006 image by soup archives

"It's a good time to leave the company, because the company is back on track for growth and profitability," said Minoli in his video statement yesterday. The President of Ducati Motor Holdings will officially leave next week.

When Minoli took over Ducati after the TPG buyout, Ducati was in serious trouble. The Castiglioni brothers, the former owners, had financial difficulties that left unfinished bikes languishing on the assembly line and the company on the verge of bankruptcy. It was a serious challenge for the executive who had worked with Procter and Gamble, Playtex, and Benetton before getting the nod at Ducati.

Under Minoli's first term at the helm, the two biggest achievements were modernizing the factory and building the concept of a Ducati "brand". Minoli's first move was to build a museum at the factory. It may be hard for Ducati owners to believe it now, but at the time there was no Ducati Performance aftermarket catalog and very little web presence. Under Minoli, the company began selling the image of Ducati much more than at any time in their past.

There were plenty of horror stories about the old production process, but today's Ducatis are now built using modern methods at a revamped factory.

Minoli extolled the "Ducati Mystique" during his tenure

It's not often you see company presidents in pit lane cheering on the factory riders, but American fans could have glimpsed Minoli doing just that at Daytona and Laguna Seca. Minoli also maintained an online blog to share his thoughts with Ducati fans. "You stay at Ducati because it's a passion, it's love," Minoli told 'Soup in an interview last year. He often talked about the company in mystical terms.

Minoli stepped aside to run Ducati.com in 2000 but returned as CEO in 2003. At the time, the 999 Superbike typified the company's troubles. In many ways, it was better than the 916 series it replaced as Ducati's flagship model. However, the "triple nine" did not capture the imagination of motorcyclists the previous models did and sales were lower than hoped.

Under Minoli's second term, Ducati revamped their research and development department. Claudio Domenicali, the former head of Ducati Corse, took over R&D and the answer was the 1098 Superbike. The bike was a hit and you'd be hard pressed to find one from an American dealer this summer as the line is virtually sold out. Another new model, the Hypermotard, is yet to go on sale until later this year but is generating a buzz among enthusiasts.

Ducati needed a cash injection and in 2006, TPG sold much of its holding to another investment group called Investindustrial. As Minoli explained, the new group wanted someone closer to the new group to take the helm.

While Ducati still has issues, the company is much healthier than the rest of the Italian motorcycle industry at this point.

According to his video statement, Minoli said he plans to carry on with charity work.