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Moto blog

2014 Ducati 899 Panigale Spied

Spy photographers have snapped images of what is reportedly a pre-production version of the rumored 2014 Ducati 899 Panigale. At first glance, the motorcycle pictured appears to be the familiar Ducati 1199 Panigale until you look at the swingarm. This sportbike has a double-sided swingarm instead of the single-sided swingarm found on the 1199 Panigale.

Rainy BSB tests are nothing new

THE combination of bad weather in the UK and a European testing ban means that most BSB teams will now start the season with very little track time. This sounds like a disaster for the top teams but history has proved this isn’t necessarily true and it sometimes doesn’t matter how much pre season preparation has taken place.  Back in 2002 Sean Emmett won on the IFC Ducati at the opening Silverstone round after first riding it in unofficial practice the same weekend. Steve Hislop took the other win on Pauls Bird’s well sorted Ducati. More recently in 2009, Leon Camier took an untested new model R1 Yamaha to victory at the Brands Hatch opener after GSE took delivery of the bike just the week before. Sylvain Guintoli won the other race on a well developed, well tested Crescent Suzuki. You could argue if no one has had testing then it is a level playing field but you have to feel for riders moving up to the superbike class in the world’s toughest national series.  Tyco Suzuki’s PJ Jacobson is one such rider but having spent some time with him over the past few weeks he seems to be taking it all in his stride. It may be the confidence of youth or maybe the fact he has won in every other class he has entered in his short BSB career, but I suspect he fancies at least standing on the Superbike podium at Brands (He also does a bit of ice racing which is not dissimilar to the this year’s UK testing).  The testing ban was implemented with all the best cost cutting intentions and if it had been any other year in the past decade all would be well. The teams may be feeling frustrated but the fans should be excited. With so many unknowns, the 2013 BSB opener at Brands Hatch could be the best ever!

Ducati MotoGP: Smoke and mirrors

There's often more lurking within a seemingly innocuous press release than first meets the eye. The latest communication from Ducati's MotoGP spin doctor would, at first, lend you to believe that the team are buoyed with steely optimism and are hopeful that their hard work ethic and diligence will get them to the top of the time sheets in two shakes of a 10 mil' Facom T-bar. The results from their pre-season testing sessions have so far been pretty glum with both Nicky Hayden and their golden boy Valentino Rossi trailing the rest of the pack by a couple of seconds.