Ducati

« Prev 1 2

February 23, 2006 Ducati’s ability to make performance motorcycles that are easy to ride is uncanny. It’s original mid-range L-twin, the Pantah 500, was both an ideal learners machine yet the basis for many a sweet-handling racebike. Now the newly announced Ducati 695 represents a unique offering in the world of motorcycles and in the Ducati Monster family in much the same way; it is a motorcycle that is welcoming to novice riders but, at the same time, is capable of delivering a level of performance that can thrill far more advanced riders. While becoming the new entry point to the Monster family, Ducati claims the Monster 695 will transform a motorcyclist into a Ducatista, a member of the Ducatisti tribe of fans whose motorcycle looks, feels and sounds like no other. The Monster 695, a preview of the Model Year 2007, replaces the 620, and is a quantum leap forward in terms of handling, riding pleasure and performance. The potent new 695 cc L-Twin delivers much greater horsepower and torque – the highest output per cc of any Ducati air-cooled engine – while producing smoother and more fluid power, making every twist of the throttle exciting and satisfying. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

Ducati Hypermotard voted the Best Design trophy winner of 2005 by the Motorcycle Design Association

By Mike Hanlon

February 18, 2006 The Motorcycle Design Association, a group of designers and professionals from within the two-wheel industry worldwide, has voted the Ducati Hypermotard, designed by Pierre Terblanche, as the best overall motorcycle design trophy winner for 2005. In winning the best overall design award, the Hypermotard scored 50% more votes than the runner-up, the Yamaha MT-0S concept bike. The MT-OS won the concept bike category with Honda’s DN-01 and the Victory Vision tieing for second place. The Hypermotard’s award follows on from the ‘Best of Show’ award it won at the EICMA Show in Milan last November, one of the most important shows worldwide for the motorcycle industry. The Hypermotard also won the Open bike category, from Bimota's Delirio and BMW's HP2. Yamaha's R6 won the supersport category from the Motocycsz C1. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

Ducati 2006 MotoGP bike unveiled - 235bhp, 148 kg

By Mike Hanlon

January 20, 2006 – At the beginning of each racing season, just before the engines fire in anger for the first time after the Christmas lull, Ducati’s MotoGP team and Ferrari’s Formula One team share an annual appointment on the mountains of Madonna di Campiglio in Trento with a media and ski get-together - the formula of the event revolves around skiing in the mountains together with a round of press meetings and conferences. This year Ducati took the opportunity to pull the wraps off the Desmosedici GP06, the new MotoGP machine that Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau will be campaigning this season. A rare insight into a new MotoGP machine - 235 bhp at 16,500 rpm and a dry weight of just 148 kilograms Read More

MOTORCYCLES

Ducati Hypermotard Concept Bike and 130bhp Monster

By Mike Hanlon

November 16, 2005 Ducati used the opening of the EICMA Motorcycle Show in Milan yesterday to show two new motorcycles – one you can buy and a concept that Ducati is considering for production. The bike you can buy (as a 2007 model in 2006) is the new king of the naked bike class, the MONSTER S4RS TESTASTRETTA, a minimalist machine powered by the legendary Testastretta engine which has won several World Superbike championships and puts 130 brake horsepower on the tarmac (150 bhp with an optional exhaust). Equally as delectable and appealing as the S4RS was the Hypermotard concept machine – an extension of the supermotard class of machines using an air-cooled 1000 Dual Spark engine and weighing in at just 175 kilograms. EXTENSIVE IMAGE LIBRARY OF THE NEW MACHINES Read More

MOTORCYCLES

Rossi takes fifth MotoGP title but Ducati wins

By Mike Hanlon

September 26, 2005 Complete report and image library: Valentino Rossi won his fifth consecutive World MotoGP title yesterday afternoon, though the race was won by Ducati-mounted Loris Capirossi who won his second Grand Prix in a week, giving Ducati its best ever MotoGP result when his team-mate Carlos Checa finished third. Having won a 125 and 250 title prior to his string of five consecutive MotoGP titles, Rossi’s championship t-shirt featured a Barry Sheene-style 7, for seven world titles, and a white commemorative helmet was created by AGV for the moment, also with the number 7 on it. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

MotoGP Japan: Rossi crashes, Ducati wins

By Mike Hanlon

September 18, 2005 Loris Capirossi took the Ducati Desmosedici to its second Grand Prix win at Motegi here today, winning at Honda’s own circuit, and relegating the Honda RC211Vs of Max Biaggi (Repsol) and Makoto Tamada (Konica Minolta) into second and third place in front of 68,000 fans. The race was one of massive attrition with nine of the 20 starters failing to finish, among them championship leader Valentino Rossi, and leading contenders Marco Melandri, Alex Barros, Sete Gibernau and Shinya Nakano. For Capirossi, it was a dream weekend – he qualified on pole, half a second faster than anyone else in the field, and a full 1.2 seconds faster than Rossi, prompting the champion elect to pay the ultimate compliment to his friend and countryman when he said after practice, “I think all the riders can only dream about the pace Capirossi had today.” In the race, Capirossi and the Ducati were the best combination on the day and unlike his prior win where he was clearly not as quick as Rossi, this time he would have won the race regardless of Rossi's crash. Congratulations to Loris and Ducati. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

World Superbike Championships Rd 6: Ducati fights back

By Mike Hanlon

June 27, 2005 A splendid double win for Regis Laconi thrilled a large Santamonica crowd yesterday to rejuventate the Ducati Xerox Team’s manufacturers championship ambitions but title leader Troy Corser appears safely in control of the riders championship. In a sweltering Misano (air temperature hovering around 32 degrees and track temperature at around 53 degrees), the French rider scored two dominant wins, finishing twice on the top of the podium together with Australians Chris Vermeulen (Honda) and Corser (Suzuki) in that order. Team-mate James Toseland also rode two determined races but had to settle for two fourth places. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

World Superbike Champs - Ducati fights back

By Mike Hanlon

May 29, 2005 Regis Laconi and James Toseland took a win apiece for the Ducati Xerox Team in the fifth round of the World Superbike championship in front of a 70,000 strong crowd at the Silverstone circuit. Frenchman Laconi scored his ninth career triumph and Ducati’s first win of the year when he took the chequered flag in race one, but it was Toseland who really set the home fans alight with a controlled but aggressive display of riding in race 2 to seal the reigning champion’s first win of the year. In the pointscore though, runaway championship leader Troy Corser on the Suzuki GSXR1000R finished second in both races, extending his lead to 78 points – more than three clear race wins. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

Ducati Multistrada 620 launched internationally

By Mike Hanlon

March 8, 2005 The new Ducati Multistrada 620 was introduced to the international press last week at a Sicilian fishing village in the province of Trapani. The model is new for 2005, one of three new models introduced by Ducati to the Multistrada family range, including the higher specification 1000 S DS and the 620 and Dark entry level Multistrada models. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

Ducati unveils 2005 Desmosedici GP5 MotoGP machine

By Mike Hanlon

21 January, 2005 Ducati’s MotoGP season got under yesterday on the Grostè glacier (at an altitude of 2470 metres) as the Desmosedici GP5 appeared in its 2005 livery for the first time amidst the spectacular Dolomite mountains in northern Italy. “The bike that Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa will race this season is the result of an evolution, not a revolution of the GP4” explained Ducati Corse CEO Claudio Domenicali yesterday during the press conference. "We learnt from the mistakes we made last year, when we arrived at the first Sepang tests with a completely different bike from the previous version and with no chance of turning back. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

Ducati set to unveil MotoGP-based Roadster?

By Mike Hanlon

Ducati is rumoured to be preparing to unveil a V4 roadster based on it MotoGP-winning V4 Desmosedici, promising the strongest line-up of 1000cc Supersport motorcycles on the showroom floor in years. Read More

MOTORCYCLES

Ducati Rocks Motorcycle Racing

By Mike Hanlon

When Ducati announced its intention to contest the World MotoGP championship back in 2001, no-one seriously expected the small Italian factory to challenge the mega-buck budgets of Honda and Yamaha... Read More

MOTORCYCLES

The New Ducati 999

By Mike Hanlon

It's the first all-new Ducati for a decade, and given that the last one has won six of the eight World Superbike titles since it's release (and is certain to make it seven of nine this year), it has a lot to live up to... Read More

GAMES

Ducati Handlebars for PC and Playstation

By Mike Hanlon

Enthusiast motorcycle manufacturer (and home of Australia's very own World Superbike Champion, Troy Bayliss) Ducati Corse has perpetrated the perfect brand extension in releasing this set of genuine Ducati handlebars for PC and Playstation motorcycle racing games. Complete with force feedback, the handlebars can be procured from Ducati's eStore at www.ducati.com. Read More

« Prev 1 2