Ducati Monster Motorcycles in Feeding Hills, page #26

Moto blog

Ducati Confirms Checa For 2013, Althea Out

As the Ducati Factory World Superbike team finalizes its plans for the introduction of the 1199 Panigale into the series, two things are certain: 2011 champion Carlos Checa will be the team’s lead rider, and Team Althea Racing, who have worked with Ducati since 2010, will not be the team’s sponsor. The first bit of news shouldn’t be a surprise, as Checa has been helping the Bologna factory develop the Panigale since mid-year. Checa won the 2011 championship with a masterful display of domination on the 1198, a model many believed to be dated and an underdog before the season began. Details of Checa’s new contract with Ducati have yet to be released other than his role in continuing to develop the 1199 and being the team’s lead rider next year.

Will the road-going RCV look like this?

Honda announced in a dry-as-you-like press release that a new bike was coming.  Not another motorcycle-cum-medical aid like the DN-01 or Integra, this is going to be a proper bike. A bike in a similar vein to previous bikes in the RC series, the RC30, RC45 and RC51, aimed squarely at winning races. So what's it going to look like?

You don't try and pinch Rossi's bike

When Valentino Rossi suffered a low-speed crash in practice at Sepang, he was in no mood to throw the towel in. Unfortunately for the 9-time world champ, he couldn't just get back on his Ducati, he had to fight off the marshals from pushing his bike to the recovery zone. 'Excuse me, do you know who I am?'

Ducati Reports 24% Growth in North America in Q3 2012

Ducati North America reported its ninth consecutive quarter of growth with a 24% increase in retail sales for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2012. Specific numbers were not released, though we may hear more details when Ducati‘s worldwide quarterly results are released.

Ducati Forms New Brazilian Subsidiary After Collapse of Importer Izzo

Ducati announced the start of a new wholly-owned subsidiary for the Brazilian market after its former importing partner, the Izzo Group, ceased operations. The Izzo Group shut itself down earlier this month following a slow decline. At one point, the Izzo Group was one of Brazil’s largest motorcycle importers, with a list of manufacturers including Ducati, Harley-Davidson, Husqvarna, MV Agusta, Triumph and Zero.

Audi A1 Featuring Ducati 1199 Panigale Tricolore Colors

Another sign of the Audi-Ducati relationship has popped up at the motorcycle manufacturer’s headquarters in Bologna, Italy. Pictured here is an Audi A1 sports hatchback dressed in paint inspired by the Ducati 1199 Panigale S Tricolore. The special color scheme includes the Ducati logo on the hood, Italian red, white and green striping and red alloy wheels.

WSBK: 2012 Magny-Cours Results – Championship Decided by Half a Point

You would think carrying a 30.5 point lead into the final round of the 2012 World Superbike Championship would be a safe enough margin to win the title. Aprilia‘s Max Biaggi made it interesting, inexplicably crashing out of the first race at the finale in Magny-C0urs before scoring a fifth place finish in Race Two to give him a 0.5 point margin over Kawasaki‘s Tom Sykes to win the title. The 358 to 357.5 point difference is the narrowest finish ever in WSBK.

Brown, Folkard and Fry wrap up 848 Challenge finale

The Ducati 848 Challenge 2012 season drew to a close at the home of British Motorsport this weekend as the riders took to the fantastic Silverstone GP circuit.   Going into the weekend only one out of the top three championship positions had been decided, as Robbie Brown (Ducati Manchester) was crowned champion at Donington Park two weeks ago. This left plenty to play for, as James Folkard (Minards Pavlou Solicitors), Mike Edwards (OHLINS @ P&H Motorcycles) and Darren Fry (Hirebase Ducati Coventry) were all in with a shot of taking the runner up spot.

Ducati top brass check out Triumph's class

Manufacturers checking out manufacturers is nothing new. At trade shows like Intermot rival manufacturers are as eager as the journalists to see the new models being unveiled. I happened across three of Ducati's top brass checking out the bikes on Triumph's stand, Left to right you have: Diego Sgorbati, Marketing Director, Gabriele del Torchio, CEO and Claudio Domenicali, the boss of Ducati Corse.

Intermot 2012: Ducati Monster Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Ducati marked the 20th anniversary of its air-cooled naked Monster line at the Intermot show in Cologne, Germany, the exact site where the M900 was first unveiled back in 1992. For 2013, Ducati is offering an anniversary edition version with bronze-colored highlights reminiscent of the original M900. Available for the Monster 696, 796 and 1100 EVO, the 20th Anniversary Edition adds a steel trellis bronze frame, gold brake components, champagne front forks, gray swignarm, engine outer casings and lower triple clamp and chrome headlamp support.