Ductalk

The MotoGP World Championship found itself “hostage” of the Spanish riders, something obvious for a long time, but yesterday to raise the issue was the number one of Dorna. “Maybe it is the time to put a limit on the maximum number of riders of the same nationality in each category” he suggested, worried about the chance that an Iberian championship could have little appeal in the rest of the world. “It is a difficult problem, so the solution can't be easy” thinks Paolo Ciabatti, this year Ducati MotoGP Project Director, but until the last year “on the other side of the fence” as the Superbike Director .

Read more: http://www.gpone.com/en/2013051810247/La-MotoGP-ha-bisogno-di-nuovi-Paesi.html#ixzz2TkYxSwvM

Sometimes you just need to push the boundaries. Like Ducati did with its power cruiser, the Diavel.

So we took a Diavel Cromo the desert, and in the best spaghetti Western tradition, let the horse run free. We hope you like the ride....

No more stuffing your suitcases with delicacies bought in Italy, hoping the sniffer dogs at JFK or other American airports won't detect the banned-in-the-USA foodstuffs inside your luggage.

In the U.S., they're called cured meats, the French say charcuterie and in Italy, the word for cured-pork products is salumi.

Starting May 28, a four-decades-old ban on the import of many Italian salumiwill be lifted.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced that the Italian regions of Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Veneto and Piedmont, and the provinces of Trento and Bolzano, are free of swine vesicular disease. Imports of pork products from those areas, says the USDA, present a low risk of introducing the disease into the U.S. The disease was first detected in the 1960s and can survive cooking and even long curing.

For the whole article click HERE

Ducati has built and brought to market another extremely successful piece of engineering with the new Hypermotard SP.

Beautiful to look at and exhilarating to ride, the dramatically updated 2013 model of the Italian company's supermoto bike is fast and fierce, and equal parts demanding and rewarding.

It's basically a race bike, which means it's not a cozy mount for a cruise up the coast. The ready-for-the-track set-up means stiff suspension, an unforgiving seat, increased seat height, plenty of engine heat and a muffler growl that will wake the neighbors.

While he hadn't yet been named CEO when this photo was taken, Claudio Domenicali has long been a force of nature inside Ducati. From the days when Ducati Corse was just formed to his later progression into production, Domenicali's hands are all over nearly every aspect of Ducati as a company. His love for racing is well known.

WELCOME TO 'PERFORMANCE'

Öhlins Racing is excited to invite you to view the latest edition of PERFORMANCE, the exciting online magazine that gives an intriguing insight into the diverse world of this legendary suspension brand.

You will have free, exclusive access to stories from around the globe on two and four wheels, racing, street, dirt and even snow...

In this edition we look into Öhlins' racing successes, the challenges of the Dakar, the big bucks world of Supercross, the firebreathing 550bhp Volvo Polestar machine and two readers specials; a gold leaf retro US Ducati and an ultra trick Fireblade from Croatia of all places.

Click on the magazine below and enter the World of Öhlins...

The motorcycle industry is littered with Minnesotans. People from the midwest who are offered positions in the bike industry usually gravitate towards the west coast where the local weather allows for more than 3-4 months of decent riding a year.

Ex-Minnesotan Jason Chinnock worked his way up the ladder at Ducati USA--he's been based in their Cupertino office for several years--and although bikes are undoubtedly his first love, a chance to move up within the VW/Audi Group was something he could not let pass....

Bomber gets his first race on a Bologna bullett

British Superbike veteran Karl Harris has switched to Ducati power for this year's North West 200 and will stand in for Lee Johnston on the Moto Rapido Sport 1199 Panigale in the Superstock and Superbike races next weekend.

Harris' PR Kawasaki squad weren't able to field a bike for him at this year's first roads international but he will now use Lee Johnston's bike as the Ulsterman is still injured. He tested the bike yesterday at Kirkistown.

‘I have never ridden a Ducati before but the Panigale seemed very strong for a Superstock machine," said Harris, who will race the bike in four outings - the Superstock event on Thursday evening and again in Saturday’s Superstock race as well as both Superbike events on race day.

Our man Melling spreads a juicy bit of gossip about the state of Ducati in MotoGP and posits some interesting scenarios for the 2014 season.

This morning I got up at 3:30 am to watch the warmup of the MotoGP race from France live.  To be honest, as passionate as I am about the sport and the Ducati brand I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that the last couple of seasons have been hard to watch.  And that’s from the outside which is, lets be honest, nothing like being on the inside and taking it on the chin every day.  So the 3:30 am ritual for the Euro rounds has been less and less appealing, in the battle of sleep vs race fan, sleep has been winning....

For the rest of this blogpost click HERE

MotoGP News. “I was surprised to do a 1:33.6, as I didn't think I'd be able to do that, but it was a beautiful feeling” - Andrea Dovizioso..  

Andrea Dovizioso claimed Ducati's first front row start of the 2013 MotoGP season with a brilliant final lap in qualifying at Le Mans.

The Italian jumped from seventh to third, 0.4s from pole, and will line-up alongside Marc Marquez andJorge Lorenzo on Sunday's grid.

Meet in the  Middle is also our first Passport Event of the year details of which we will be posting soon.
This starts ride from several corners of New England and met for an excellent BBQ lunch at  Curtis' BBQ  in Putney VT. This is an excellent place to hang out and chat with your fellow Ducati enthusiasts.  Riders of other makes are welcome too, it will give us a chance to show them the light   . Afterwards you can head home or hook up with others to take advantage of some local knowledge of some great New England Roads.

More details HERE

That MotoGP is too Iberocentric – too many Spanish races, and too many Spanish riders – is obvious to all who follow the sport, with the possible exception of a blinkered Spanish journalist or two. The series has to change, to move away from having four races a season in Spain, and to explore new markets in South America and Asia.

This is exactly what is to happen, according to an interview Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta gave to the Reuters news agency on Friday. Reuters reporter Alan Baldwin spoke to Ezpeleta at the Barcelona circuit, where the Dorna CEO was attending the Formula 1 race.