Around and around and around...

Ducati Austin's Neil Hodgson tested Barber for the first time on Tuesday and Wednesday and ended up third quickest with a lap time of 1:25.931 on the second day. More importantly, he turned a bunch of laps on his Ducati 999 Superbike. Superbike Planet

Capirossi carries depleted Ducati.

With his team-mate Carlos Checa sidelined through injury, Loris Capirossi and test rider Vittoriano Guareschi carried the hopes of the Ducati Marlboro Team during the second and final official MotoGP test, which concluded at Jerez on Sunday. Crash.net

Desmosedici RR Spy Pics

Ducati has been testing an extremely ugly Desmosedici RR prototype. The pictures below show a bike cobbled together from various 999 parts (mirrors) and spare car parts (exhaust). As always speculation about the bike is rampant. Here are a few of the current rumours.

• Pierre Terreblanche is being kept away from the Desmosedici project after the controversy surrounding these design of the 999 and Multistrada.

• "Ducati realised the road bike had been watered down far too much and that it needed to be a nasty bike rather than the soft-looking mess it had become." "This is basically going to be a race bike civilised just enough to – and not a pale imitation." - Motorcycle News, March 23, 2005 (Ducati insider)

• THE final bodywork of the Desmosedici RR will be left until the last possible moment before being signed off, as Ducati wants the road bike to look just like its GP racer. Ducati is planning to reveal a new look for the GP bike – with a more aerodynamic fairing developed by ex-Formula One designer Alan Jenkins – at the Le Mans race in May. The road bike may well follow that design, with the addition of lights and mirrors. - Motorcycle News, March 23, 2005

MOTOGP News - Capirossi: Maybe we lost our way a bit.

The Ducati Marlboro Team - already reduced to just one rider at the Jerez test after Carlos Checa was forced to withdraw due to injury - suffered a tough opening day at the Spanish circuit, which ended with Loris Capirossi just 11th on the timesheets. Crash.net

Checa to miss Jerez

The Ducati Marlboro Team's last minute preparations ahead of the 2005 MotoGP season have been dealt a blow with the news that race rider Carlos Checa will miss this weekend's final pre-season test, at Jerez, after being diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder. Crash.net

Three difficult days at Ducati

After several positive pre-season tests, the Ducati Marlboro team experienced something of a reality check at the Barcelona official MotoGP test, in which the team struggled to break into the top ten on all three days.

The team's fastest rider, Loris Capirossi, was eighth, twelfth and tenth respectively over the three days – putting the Italian tenth overall. Ducati were also outpaced by the leading Suzuki of John Hopkins, while Kawasaki's Shinya Nakano was within 0.13secs of Capirossi. All three teams use the Bridgestone tyres. Crash.net

Ducati denies semi-automatic gearbox.

Crash.net

Monster Challenge Winner

Ducati North America

California's mini-Mugello

"When asked if there were any European tracks that reminded him of Sears Point, Hodgson elaborated, 'There's a couple. Like my favorite track is Mugello, believe it or not, one of the best in Italy. This is like a mini-Mugello, really. Mugello's got like a one kilometer straight, and obviously this place doesn't have a one kilometer straight, but it's the same sort of feeling, same sort of sensation.'" Superbike Planet

Ducati still builds fastest MotoGP machine

335.1km/h Crash.net

Capirossi curious ahead of Barcelona 'race'.

Crash.net

Regis Laconi Second Fiddle to Corser

World Superbike testing continued Friday and Saturday at Valencia, Spain. The quotes paint a clear picture of the divergent fortunes of the Xerox Ducati pilots.

Laconi - 2nd fastest
"We worked a lot on the bike settings today because we didn't test in the dry on this track in February and I am quite pleased with the way things went."

Toseland - 8th fastest
"I don't know the reason for the crash because I was going through the chicane on my 'in' lap and the bike just went round and slammed me on the floor."

Crash.net

Finally!

No crash. No mechanical DNF. Hodgson has hit the ground running. The Ducati 999 piloted by Neil Hodgson gave Ducati a podium finish in today's Daytona Superbike race.

1 Mat Mladin
2 Neil Hodgson
3 Ben Spies
4 Aaron Yates
5 Jake Zemke

11 Eric Bostrom

BBC Sport

Daytona Ducati Day

A great image gallery of pictures from "Ducati Day" at Daytona. Superbike Planet

Eric Looking For Answers

Superbike Planet

Hodgson qualifies third at Daytona

BBC Sport

Funny money

Superbike Planet has posted the full text of Ducati's press release regarding contingency money for 2005 in North America. At first glance it looks like an ambitious attempt to push Ducati racers to the front of the field. A closer look shows that most of the $871,000 that is available is very safe.

$450,000 of that budget is for AMA Superbike and Formula Extreme. The factory team is excluded which makes it extremely unlikely that any of the Superbike prizes will be collected since right now no other Ducati riders are listed on the AMA site. Formula Extreme has two Ducati mounted riders. #66 Benjamin Walters, #308 Dario. Good luck to them. With the likes of Aaron Yates , Ben Spies, Miguel Duhamel, Tommy Hayden also competing in the series Ben and Dario have their work cut out for them.

So over 50% of the contingency budget is unlikely to ever be paid out. The remainder is targeted toward club racing where Ducati may be competitive in specialty events like Thunderbike or Battle of the Twins.

"This is the most aggressive racing contingency program Ducati has ever offered and it is a demonstration of our commitment to racing in North America. We want people to consider racing a Ducati this season because we are a genuine alternative to the mass market products and racing is in our blood. We are World Superbike Champions and we intend to mount a serious challenge in AMA Superbike in 2005. The grass roots of racing produce the heroes of tomorrow and we want as many of them as possible to learn their craft on a Ducati. " says Michael Lock, Ducati North America CEO.

This is a great sentiment, but the real issue here is cost. From the club level to the international level the number of Ducatis on racing grids is declining. WSBK has gone in a single season from being the "Ducati Cup" to being populated mostly by Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki. 2003 British Superbike champions Monstermob have switched from Ducati to Honda for 2005. The reason given was cost. A Ducati 999 CAN be made competitive against the best Japanese superbikes, but only at a tremendous cost. If Mostermob is unable, or unwillng, to shoulder that cost then it is unrealistic to expect club level racers to ride a Ducati regardless of the contingency fund. Race competitive bikes need to be cost effective tools to purchase and campaign.

Ducati's history and heritage are tightly linked to racing success. To extend that history into the coming decade Ducati needs racers at all levels, not just MotoGP, riding and winning on Ducatis. Superbike Planet

'Race spec' Ducatis in contention.

Crash.net

Qatar MotoGP Testing

Superbike Planet

Ducati MotoGP Testing in Qatar

"Development work on the Ducati Demosedici GP5 is continuing non-stop
and the Ducati Marlboro Team has concluded positively the first of the
three scheduled days of testing at the new Losail circuit, which was
inaugurated last year. A milder climate (27° air/47° track) than that
recorded in the 2004 GP helped Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa get the
best out of the session, but strong winds along the long Losail
straight inevitably conditioned the work of all the riders." Superbike Planet