In a slightly bizzare manner, Nicky Hayden is responsible for the latest bit of news and photo leak from the MotoGP paddock. Making a stop in Bologna to celebrate the holidays with the Ducati Corse crew, in route to India to help open a Ducati store, Hayden got a chance to see the new Ducati GP10 race bike up-close. Armed with a cell phone, and a little indiscretion, the American rider snapped a photo of the new bike, posted the photo to his personal website, and there you have it.


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Ducati North America has announced that the Hypermotard 796 will be in dealerships before the New Year, and some dealerships will have the new motard as early as this weekend (that’s tomorrow, or today if you work in the A&R office!).

If you’re having a hard time finding the right gift for that special motorcyclist in your life, this might be the chance to get them what they really want this year. Nothing says Merry Christmas like a $9,995 lightweight red Ducati Hypermotard 796 with a bow on it. Press release after the jump.


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Finally it has happened, photos of the Ducati Strada Aperta have been leaked, and they show the bike’s true form. With the bevy of camofloged photos that we’ve seen already, there aren’t too many surprises here, but we do get to see a clear view of the “beak” of the new adventure-tourer, as well as the front fairings. Photos after the jump.

Similar to the Hypermotard, which seems to share a lot of inspiration with the Stradaperta, the front mudguard has an integrated ram-air intake. Interestingly enough from these photos, we see no mirrors. Gone are the gaudy add-on mirrors we’ve seen before, but also absent are the bar-end mirrors we expected to see in the final version. This leaves us wondering what Ducati has up their sleeve for the BMW GS killer.


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Ducati is recalling 753 Streetfighters, 1098R’s, and 1198S’s Superbikes because of a potential fuel hose clamp issue. The recall affects only 2010 Streetfighters and 2009 Superbikes, and if left unresolved could result in the bike stalling from the lack of fuel, and potentially starting a fire.

Unless that’s your sort of thing, we suggest taking your bike down to your local Ducati dealership. Dealers will inspect, and if required replace and reposition the fuel hose retaining clamp free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during October 2009. Owners may contact Ducati at 800-231-6696.

As always, you can call the NHTSA at 1-888-327-4236, and reference campaign #09V381000.

Source: NHTSA

These have to be some of the best shots to day that we have seen of the soon-to-be released Ducati Stradaperta (or is it Strada Aperta?). With official comment on the motorcycle scarce from Bologna, we must still make our own conjectures. Clearly from these photos though, we can see in detail what the head light assembly, and dash will look like. Photos after the jump.

Although still disguised in tape and paint, the bike’s head light can be clearly seen up close and defined. Also revealed is an all-digital dash, which looks large enough to include a GPS map display (although we have no reason to believe such a feature exists on the bike).

The Strada Aperta looks set to have the Hypermotard’s same signal and mirror integrated hand-guards, and some integrated storage space in front fairings. With these latest photos we can only wonder how much speculation we must endure before seeing the bike unveiled in Milan this November.


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Race 2 promised to have more close racing, as many riders in Race 1 proved they could race near the top (not to mention, many riders in WSBK have contracts up for renewal). With Imola being the home track for the Ducati loyal, a lot of fans we’re waiting to see the red bikes up front.

Many Xerox Ducati fans were also keen to see if Haga could retake the lead in the World Superbike Championship standings with a strong showing at Imola. They would not be disappointed, a full race report after the jump.


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Racing went off without a hitch this Sunday, as the Imola circuit seemed devoid of earlier traction problems that almost sidelined the racing earlier this week. With Imola sitting literally in Ducati’s backyard, all eyes were on the Xerox Ducati squad, and Noriyuki Haga.

Haga, who trails Ben Spies for the first time this season coming into Imola, was especially keen on grabbing back some points from the American. Lastly, a new addition to the WSBK paddock took the form of Marco Simoncelli, who was filling in on the factory Aprilia team for the injured Shinya Nakano. A full race report with spoilers after the jump.

The Italian motorcycles clearly were dialed-in for Imola this weekend, with the Ducati’s showing strong results, as well as the RSV4’s of Biaggi and Simoncelli. So it shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to see that Race 1 at Imola was dominated by the close racing between the Italian machines, with American Ben Spies trailing and Johnny Rea a brief factor.


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Ducati Streetfighter S owners can get ready for their second recall since the bike’s debut earlier this year. This time Ducati is notifying owners of a improperly installed ECU ground screw that may have been over-tightened, causing the motor to stall.

The recall affects 247 Streetfighter S’s, and does not seem to affect the base model Streetfighter. Affected owners can take their motorcycle to their local Ducati dealer who will retighten the ground screw free of charge. The recall is expected to begin during October 2009. Owners may contact Ducati dealer at 1-800-231-6696.

As always, you can also contact the NHTSA at 1-888-327-4236 (safecar.gov) and reference NHTSA campaign#: 09V365000

Source: NHTSA

With track conditions at the Imola causing a near mutiny during the practice sessions, there was a panic in the WSBK paddock as to whether racing would occur at the Bologna circuit this weekend. After track officials cleaned the Imola tarmac, it became too slippery to ride upon. Whether due to the mixture of oil and water on the track, or the absence of the usual layers of rubber forming on the race line, the conditions caused riders to refuse to take to the track over safety concerns.

Commenting about the conditions, Ben Spies stated the course was slipperier than full wet conditions. Max Biaggi was also heard saying that the course was too slippery for racing, and that Sunday’s races could not take place on the course under these circumstances. Despite this, WSBK Superpole action still occurred, read on for more.

Scrambling to correct the error, the folks at Imola cleaned the surface again, declared the problem solved, and sent out WSS riders to begin their practice session. With the matter apparently resolved, this weekend’s stop at Imola, Italy could recommence, and it seems fitting that an Italian rider should take the Superpole at the resurgence of this historic Italian track.


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Sometimes rumors don’t take long to come to fruition. Take the case of the 2010 Ducati Hypermotard. Just last week we reported that Ducati had a 696 DS motor based babytard in the works, and today Ducati has officially announced that motorcycle. As we expected the new bike is named the Hypermotard 796, and it shares almost all of the same core design elements as its larger counter-part, including the bar-end mirrors (as we expected).


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