Dorna’s CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta is extolling the need and virtues of CRTs in MotoGP to fill dwindling grid numbers in order make racing less expensive with major rule changes expected for the 2013 season, hypothesizing that the new rules could include limiting factories to selling satellite bikes and not leasing them (something that satellite teams have been complaining about for years, with the manufacturers prefering to having the bikes returned and crushed at the end of the season) at one million euros, limiting performance with spec ECUs, rev limits, restrictions on engine development and even a weight system, a la Superbike.

So how are the factories taking these proposed new rules? Not well, if we were to base our opinion on a statement by Ducati’s General Manager Claudio Domenicali’s during the 2012 Wrooom.

Domenicali basically said he agrees on cost cutting is a necessity, but the zinger is, “If the championship goes in the direction of CRTs only and this means only production based four-cylinder engines to go racing and to be competitive then we would be forced to leave the series.”

Continue reading: Ducati's Claudio Domenicali: 'We're not interested in a CRT championship'

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Speculation that Ducati would soon be making a maxi scooter and a scrambler have been growing over the last year or so and just last week Ducati’s Claudio Domenicali in an interview with Motosprint.com, confirmed that the Italian company was seriously thinking about it, but now Ducati’s head honcho Gabriele Del Torchio has nixed it.

Speaking to our Italian cousins at Motoblog.it during the Moto Passion bike show, Del Torchio stated that the company “has a well defined range and now we are concentrating on our next project for the sports market and on Superbikes, we’re not thinking of new models. That’s our industrial production plan for the next 3 to 5 years, and we have no maxi scooter in mind, and certainly not a scrambler. “

Do we actually believe Del Torchio? Nope. Ducati isn’t dishing out a few millions of euros to build plants in Thailand and Brazil just to get around import taxes and and concentrate on selling 20,000 more sportbikes or the Diavel in expanding markets.

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In an exclusive interview with Italy’s Motosprint magazine (you can read it also on their website here) Ducati’s general director Claudio Domenicali revealed that the Italian marque is seriously thinking of developing a scrambler style motorcycle and a maxi scooter to add to their line-up, confirming the rumors we’ve been hearing lately.

While the interview concentrated mainly on the controversial Diavel, despite the many rave reviews we’ve read by journalists who tested the bike at Marbella last month, when it was shown to the international press. Domenciali admitted that Ducati wants to up their production to 60,000 bikes a year, thus needing to branch out to other production segments and markets.

Ducati has already laid down the first stone in their new plant in Thailand and Domenicali confirmed they will build another in South America, specifically in Brazil, in order to get around import taxes that are strangling their sales in these two important areas.

So far reactions to the idea of new scrambler have been met favourably, but a scooter branded with the iconic marque just sticks in the craw of Ducati purists, while everyone is worried about eventual job losses in Italy.

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Following the Ducati tradition, the newest and hottest member of the Italian marque’s family, the four-in-one Multistrada 1200 received it’s official christening with the mandatory bottle of bubbly, when the first MTS in white, rolled off the floor in Borgo Panigale, in the presence of Claudio Domenicali, Gabriele Del Torchio and Silvano Fini.

Source | motoblog

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Here’s a video from Wrooom with a first look at the Ducati’s new 2010 ‘weapon’ as Nicky Hayden calls the Desmosedici GP10, with all it’s sponsor stickers in place.

Claudio Domenicali, Ducati’s General Director has stated that the GP10 has a new big bang firing order that improves traction and that Ducati’s engineers have worked on eliminating the bike’s tendency to shake and wheelie. The rear of the GP10 has been completely redone, with six anchor points instead of four, making it more rigid which guarantees better handling.

Visually the GP10 has a different fairing compared to the GP9, but have kept the changes that the company introduced at Estoril last year to make the bike less sensible to lateral wind shear. They’ve also made minor changes in electronics, wiring and other smaller details.

Source | gpone

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The rumors of Livio Suppo leaving Ducati have been officially confirmed by the Ducati website, here’s the press release:

The last race of the 2009 MotoGP season will also be the last race in Ducati MotoGP Team colours for Livio Suppo, Ducati’s MotoGP project manager. The Italian manager will leave Ducati to embark on a new professional adventure.

In Ducati since 1999, Suppo was involved in this challenging and ambitious project from the very beginning, contributing with his intuition, perseverance and enthusiasm to the world title victory of 2007 and to the many podiums and successes that have characterised the life of the Ducati Desmosedici from its debut in 2003 up until today.

“Livio has meant a great deal to Ducati and also to me personally; he has been a loyal and valuable colleague but above all a great friend,” commented Claudio Domenicali, General Director of Ducati.

Continue reading: Confirmed! Livio Suppo leaves Ducati

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Here’s Borgo Panigale second episode on Ducati Desmosedici RR which explains the technical aspects of this street legal MotoGP motorcycle.

If you missed the first episode , check it out after the jump.

Continue reading: 2° Video of the Ducati Desmosedici RR

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This is the first episode of a series of official Ducati videos about their meanest machine the Ducati D16 RR.

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