Ducati News Today

Valentino Rossi underwent a small operation this morning at Cattolica’s Cervesi hospital to remove the rod that was inserted in his right tibia following his practice crash at the 2010 Mugello GP.

The appearance of the 40 day old Ducati GP12 MotoGP racer in Sepang, Malaysia was the cue for Ducatisti the world over to hold their breath. Would this almost entirely new machine produced over the winter be the platform that would allow Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden to move from zero to hero in 2012? [...]

Valentino Rossi and Ducati concluded a very encouraging first test of the 40 day old Ducati Desmosedici GP12 ‘Phoenix’ yesterday at Spepang in Malaysia. Rossi set the 5th fastest time 1.2 seconds behind Stoner on the Honda. Nicky Hayden had a session limited by pain in his shoulder.

For the Ducati Team, the second day of testing at Sepang was marked by a busy schedule that focused on preparing the GP12’s base setup. Valentino Rossi was engaged in the work that Filippo Preziosi had planned for the team, using all the time at his disposition, while Nicky Hayden was forced to stop after [...]

The 2012 MotoGP test season started with today’s first day of a three-day test at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit. The Ducati Team took to the track with its Desmosedici GP12, and after official test rider Franco Battaini carried out the shakedown, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden started the important work of finding a base setup.

Valentino Rossi himself has given fans the first glimpse of the new Ducati Desmosedici GP12 care of his Twitter account.  He and team-mate Nicky Hayden will ride the new bike for the first time Tuesday at the first MotoGP pre-season test at Sepang, Malaysia.  Yesterday a photo purporting to be of the new bike swept the [...]

Considering the disastrous results of the 2011 MotoGP season, Ducati could be forgiven for not showing off the new GP12 at their Wrooom event and instead focussing on Valentino Rossi’s snowboarding expertise.  Although the company felt the need to produce a teaser video ahead of the Sepang 3 day test, in comments to the press Ducati [...]

Some photos are starting to leak out from Sepang, Malaysia just hours ahead of the first 2012 pre-season MotoGP test and the debut of the all new Ducati GP12 factory racer hurriedly designed and assembled over the winter break for riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden.

The Ducati Test Team, directed by Technical Director Filippo Preziosi, has completed three days of testing on the Spanish circuit of  Jerez de La Frontera, with Carlos Checa and Franco Battaini followed by in the pit garage by Team Manager, Vittoriano Guareschi.

Valentino Rossi showed the Ferrari Formula 1 drivers that despite his recent slump in 2-wheel on track performance he was still a formidable talent on 4 wheels.  Rossi wiped the floor with the F1 stars in the Kart race but could do no better than 2nd in the Fiat 500 event.