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Paolo Ciabatti

Meskipun kejuaraan dunia MotoGP baru memasuki pusingan ketujuh namun pelbagai aktiviti belakang tabir sudah mula mengambil tempat.

Pengumuman Suzuki untuk undur diri dari kejuaraan itu hujung musim ini telah mencetuskan pelbagai ketidaktentuan terutamanya membabitkan slot pelumba menjelang musim 2023.

Ketika pasukan lain sedang mengorak langkah bagi memancing Joan Mir dan Alex Rins musim depan, Ducati memberi fokus penuh terhadap pelumba sedia ada termasuk yang berada di pasukan satelit.

Terbaru, Pengarah Sukan Ducati, Paolo Ciabatti mengesahkan pihaknya enggan kehilangan dua bakat muda, Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing) dan Jorge Martin (Pramac).

Bercakap kepada Autosport, ini komen Ciabatti mengenai status kedua-dua pelumba muda itu.

“Saya sering berkata kami mahu mengikat Jorge (Martin) dan Enea (Bastianini).

“Ketika ini Jorge sedang bergelut tetapi dia sudah pun membuktikan kemampuan sementara Enea sedang mencabar kejuaraan dunia. Sementara itu, Johann (Zarco) sedang menunggang dengan cemerlang namun kurang sengat untuk menaiki podium,” jelasnya.

Martin dan Bastianini disebut-sebut sebagai calon utama untuk menggantikan Jack Miller di pasukan factory.

Bagaimanapun, pelumba tonggak, Francesco Bagnaia mengharapkan Miller terus kekal sebagai rakan sepasukan ekoran sudah mempunyai persefahaman baik dengan pelumba Australia itu.

Dorna Sports CEO, Carmelo Ezpeleta, stated that he would be “delighted” if the MotoGP 2020 season can fit 10 rounds into this year’s hectic calendar. Looking at the fact that the first eight races will most likely get postponed (six already confirmed), Ducati has offered a radical solution into how Dorna can save the 2020 season and the championship. (more…)

  • Will a Ducati Corse factory team join the Endurance World Championship and Suzuka 8-Hours?

  • The manufacturer is now supporting privateer teams in the championship.

  • Ducati didn’t shoot down the idea but outlined that it’ll be a large challenge should they decide to.

Ducati obtained significant results in their comeback bid in the WorldSBK with the Ducati Panigale V4 R (Alvaro Bautista’s cock ups notwithstanding) this season. But will a factory Ducati Corse team join the Endurance World Championship and Suzuka 8-Hours?

The designer of the Ducati 916, the late-Massimo Tamburini had envisioned to race his creation in endurance events including the prestigious Suzuka 8-Hours. That’s why he gave the bike a single-sided swingarm. In fact, he admitted that the 916’s swingarm was heavier than the regular twin-spar swingarms of its contemporaries, but it facilitates faster rear wheel changes.

The design became a Ducati signature and tradition which is carried on all the way to the latest high-end Panigales including the Ducati Panigale V4 R.

Point is, endurance racing is missing in Ducati’s motorsports dossier.

Italian magazine GPOne.com spoke to Ducati Corse Sporting Director, Paolo Ciabatti about such prospects. Ciabatti didn’t kill the idea outright but gave a “not yet.”

The 2020 EWC season has begun and Ducati will participate only in a supporting role.

“In my opinion, if we ever decide to participate in the Suzuka 8-Hours in an official way at Ducati, it will be our own project which will require a great deal of effort,” he told GPOne. “We have to plan test on the track when it is available; we have to field the best riders available in the Ducati family; and then we have to think that to win there, the Bridgestone tyres must be used.”

“A challenge in the challenge. It is fascinating, but if Ducati decides to participate, it will do so to fight for victory.”

What he meant by “our own project” means that it’ll be Ducati Corse factory effort and not in partner with endurance race teams.

Sources: GPOne via Asphalt & Rubber

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ducati sering kali muncul dalam berita baru-baru ini setelah mereka mengumumkan bahawa mereka akan membuat satu pengumuman besar pada tarikh 7 Julai yang akan tiba nanti di litar Laguna Seca ketika pusingan MotoGP yang akan berlangsung di sana.

(more…)

Ducati has been making waves recently after it announced that it will be making a huge announcement coming July 7th at the Laguna Seca round of MotoGP (read what the big news is here).

There is no doubt that the time is up for the Ducati Panigale, and a replacement is right around the corner. UK based motorcycling media and all-round cool guys MCN (Motorcycle News) got their hands on these set of photos showing what could be the replacement to the Panigale.

There have been rumours flying around for awhile now that the next Ducati superbike will be powered by a V4 engine, just as the Ducati MotoGP race bike. It is no secret that the Ducati Superquaddro L-Twin has shown its limitations over the years in terms of power, efficiency and emissions. And Ducati needs to introduce something faster, gnarlier and all out better than the Panigale. A bike that does a better job at bridging the gap between race and road.

The report by MCN quoted Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali as saying, “I confirm Ducati is working on a four-cylinder engine project for a road bike,” a few months ago.

This is also huge news for the Ducati WSB team, who will also get the new V4 but not until 2019. Paulo Ciabati confirmed this, “We will race the Panigale for 2017 and 2018, so obviously we will keep developing the engine to be competitive.”

The next generation Ducati road bike will undoubtedly receive even more motorsport know how than the Panigale. Speaking about the new bike, Domenicali continued to say, “the engine development that we have made in MotoGP is exceptional – we have an engine that is very light, very reliable, and with a lot of very interesting technology. We are seriously thinking about making that available to regular customers because it is really a masterpiece of engineering – of course translated into something that can be sold at a reasonable, but premium, price – so it will not be exotic like the Desmosedici, but a more regular high-end sports bike. We would absolutely race this in WSB.”

So with that said, it is clear that the new V4 engine will be below the 1000cc mark due to WSB engine regulations, but bike makers usually create a special homologation edition. Just like the current Panigale, there could be a 1000cc V4 model carrying an R somewhere in its name. And just like the current Panigale, there will likely be two more models – a standard and probably an S model – which could be powered by a 1200cc V4 engine.

And the bike in these pictures is quite clearly a well developed test mule, and is most definitely the upcoming V4. Featuring styling that can be used both on road and on track, and quite obviously an evolution to the styling of the Panigale, and with news that the final edition Panigale is just a few days away from its global introduction, this is surely the next generation Ducati superbike.

So what is known about this bike? Well firstly it ditches the Panigale’s monocoque ‘frameless’ design for a conventional twin-spar cast frame. It is around half the size of a normal frame. Also the design of the new bike is obviously different but similar, stalkier than the Panigale but different to the Ducati race bikes, the new Ducati sports bike is a lot beefier than ever, and similar to the width of four-cylindered Japanese bikes.

The lights too are completely different and the headlamps together with the sidelights have been repositioned inside the air intake ports, apparently given away by one of the LED headlamps seen in the photo below and above. The photos also show that the rear shock has been repositioned and is now placed behind the rider’s left ankle.

We will bring you the latest on this bike as news hits the internet.

UPDATE:
Sister site to MCN, Australian based AMCN (Australian Motorcycle News) has released the rendering below of the upcoming Ducati V4 Superbike. It is not known how close it is to the real bike, but it looks pretty damn good!

Story and photo credits: MCN

The 2017 Ducati MotoGP livery debuts while brand CEO confirms V4 superbike project.

(more…)

Much-speculated move from Yamaha to Ducati looks imminent for defending world champion Jorge Lorenzo.

(more…)

Ducati Corse MotoGP rider Andrea Iannone meets and greets several lucky members of DCM in Shell Yazn Enterprise Retail Station @ KLIA.

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An exclusive chat with Ducati’s MotoGP project leader, Paolo Ciabatti, ahead of this weekend’s Shell Advance Malaysian MotoGP 2014.

(more…)

Ducati Malaysia (Next Bike Sdn Bhd) kick-starts bi-annual Asia Ducati Week 2014 edition with the Malaysian debut of the new 2015 Ducati Diavel.

(more…)

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