Less than 12 months after retiring from road racing, Triple World Superbike Champion Troy Bayliss will make his car racing debut in the Australian V8 Supercar championship next month after a successful test outing.

Fresh from a June test where he lapped just fractions of a second slower than a 3 time Australian V8 Supercar champion, Bayliss will now make his car racing debut in a Triple F Racing Holden Commodore during an endurance event next month along with co-driver Dean Fiore.


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Hayden Puts the Ducati on the Box

For Ducati fans the first podium for Nicky Hayden was the major news from the running of the 12th round of the MotoGP World Championship at Indianapolis. The American took advantage of a rare occasion where both pole sitter Dani Pedrosa and Championship leader Valentino Rossi fell early in the race. Nicky wasn’t the only rider to capitalize with Jorge Lorenzo taking the win and closing back to within 25 points of Rossi, whilst Alex De Angelis took his first ever MotoGP podium with 2nd place.

Pedrosa set off at the lights as everyone expected. The Honda man had looked unbeatable in every session including the rain. Rossi and Lorenzo gave chase only for Pedorsa to crash out early in the 4th lap in a bizarre event that saw him lose the front just on the exit of a right hander as he tried to lift the bike up and over to set up for the following tight left.


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After taking 2nd fastest in the rain during yesterday’s first practice session, Ducati’s Nicky Hayden dropped back in the field to log the 7th fastest time this morning during the second session and ahead of this afternoon’s qualifying. Dani Pedrosa had no such problems switching from wet to dry conditions and remains at the top, the only rider into the 1′40″ range.


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With the fracas surrounding the potential for Jorge Lorenzo to join the team put to bed yesterday, Ducati can now focus on its program for the remainder of the year. Many issues remain to be solved. Can Nicky Hayden finally get up to speed on the red bike and will he be signed for next year? Or will rookie Mika Kallio shine at Indy? And is Casey Stoner on the road to recovery?


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Welcome to Wallpaper Wednesday. Every week I will post up something beautiful from the world of Ducati that you just might like to have grace your desktop. This week we have a highly modified 955cc, Ducati 888SPO.


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Ducati North America has announced the return of its popular “Ducati Island” to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This year marks the second time the unique Ducati experience visits the legendary circuit. Located between turns one and two of the track, Ducati Island is open to all motorcycle enthusiasts.

On the Island, Ducatisti and race fans will experience special exhibits, partner vendors, autograph sessions, the legendary Ducati Fashion Show, and much more. Ducati owners who display their current Ducati registration or proof of insurance and photo ID will receive extra benefits such as Ducati parking, gear check and hospitality.


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Ducati is cutting production this year and curtailing salary packages as the economic downturn and especially the credit crunch adversely affects it’s sales all over the world. Ducati is feeling the pinch as customers reduce spending and the global market for premium motorcycles has contracted by 30 percent in the first half of 2009 and even more in the important US market.

Ducati CEO, Gabriele del Torchio, told the Financial Times that the decline was most evident in the USA where he estimated sales of premium motorcycles were down by about 50%. He went on to say that it was the mid-range price of bikes most effected.


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The train spotters amongst you may have noticed that the factory Ducati 1098R F09 Superbikes as ridden by Messieurs Haga and Fabrizio have 1198 boldly plastered on the side of the fairing, not 1098R like the top flight streetbike. There is a good reason for this of course, since from this year, the entire family of liter class V-twins have had an engine displacing 1198cc. So it comes as little surprise that next year Ducati will formally drop the 1098 moniker as the 1098R becomes the 1198R.

The 1098 name has outlived it’s usefulness and in order to maintain the premium status of the largest engined testastretta evoluzione powered machines from the mere 1098 based Streetfighter and impending Adventure Tourer / Strada Aperta / Multistrada replacement (delete not applicable) a name change for the ‘R’ was inevitable.


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Ducati’s 916 is iconic of the DNA of the company, accessible performance through beautiful design. The failure of the successor to the 916 to 998 range, the 999 series, was a large reason why the 1098/1198 range looks like a modern echo of the original 1994, desmoquattro machine. The video after the jump shows a Ducati 916 that has never been on the road!!!


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Coming quickly after Ducati officially confirmed the Adventure Tourer known as the Strada Aperta (Open Road), a new spy shot of the bike at rest shown from the front has surfaced.At various times thought to be a Multistrada replacement, the road biased machine appears to be the motorcycle equivalent of the cross-over. It looks like it could be ridden off-road and has ride height to prove it, but in reality is a different take on the all rounder which can commute, sport tour and even attack the hills on the weekend.

In that vein it is more akin to the Triumph Tiger and KTM990SMT than the heavy and less powerful BMW adventure bikes. The styling of all these machines is constrained by their functional requirements which makes them more rugged looking rather than handsome. There is something to be said for a bike which looks like it could take you around the world, even if you only plan on going around the block!


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