Category: Ducati

1. Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati leave Oulton Park disappointed after a promising start

   Posted on 10:00am Monday 7th Sep 2015

   The Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati team were unable to lose the curse of bad luck that has beset the team this season. The Winchester based team were unable to capitalise on a promising practice and qualifying sessions as technical gremlins plagued the team throughout the three races.

   Hopkins had been quick throughout the weekend but the run of bad luck had continued in qualifying three and all three races of the weekend’s triple header.

   Qualifying had begun in a promising manner for ‘Hopper’ with a P3 in Q1 and 2nd in Q2. However a missed gear in the final qualifying session on a flying lap, led Hopkins to run on at cascades resulting in a slow speed spill thus only being able to complete the qualifying session.

   Race 1 - Hopkins starting from 10th position on the fourth row of the grid immediately made gains on lap 1 as he eased into 7th position. He was to the hold this position until lap 3 when a dust-up with Luke Mossey relegated him to 8th. ‘Hopper’ began to lose ground to those in front but seemed to regroup and close in on the tails of McConnell and Linfoot. However it soon became apparent that Hopkins had a problem as his times dropped and he fell further down the field. On Lap 13 the Californian rider brought his Panigale into the pit lane as he could no longer continue with the grip levels he had available. Hopkins did re-join the race briefly once the tyre had cooled to see if any grip had retuned but pulled into the garage shortly afterwards after the rear tyre continued to spin up.

   Race 2 - Again Hopkins started from the 4th row but after two laps had dropped back to 13th position, however on lap 3 a mistake led to him dropping further back to 21st. From there Hopkins had to dig deep to try and claw some places back for the Lloyds British Moto Rapido Panigale. By half distance the American rider had moved into 16th and then over the next couple of laps moved through the field to close in on the top 10 only for technical problems to strike again. A clutch problem gave Hopkins no option but to pull into the pits to end another eventful and ultimately disappointing race for the team.

   Race 3 - A decent lap in race 2 set up Hopkins for a row 2 start in the final race of the weekend. A good start meant Hopkins held his position and was immediately challenging Linfoot in front of him but mechanical gremlins struck again. Hopkins found it difficult to select a gear so was forced to bring the bike back to the garage to end a disheartening weekend that had seemed to promise so much.

   Steve Moore – Team Manager – Lloyds British Moto Rapido Ducati

   “It’s been a really disappointing weekend, we had the lap pace, and we had the lap times, the fastest the bike and John had ever been around here. There was not much we could do about race 1, but race 2 we had a clutch failure, for race 3 we changed everything, we wouldn’t have done anything different so we will have to investigate the reasons for what happened in race 3. So we just have to move on to Assen where we expect the bike and John to be strong. We have not had some of these technical problems before so hopefully we have now got them out of the way for the final leg of the season.”

   James Egan riding the MWR Motorsports Superstock 1000 Ducati never managed to get going during the weekend. Egan was 18th in first qualifying and was unable to improve on that position in second qualifying due to damp track conditions. A race start from the 7th row on the grid was always going to make things difficult for the South African and was not helped by a poor start to the race that left him languishing in 25th place. Egan failed to improve on his position in the race and returned to the garage after lap 7.

   Mark Webster – Team Manager Lloyds British MWR Ducati

   “Its been a disappointing end to a long weekend, unfortunately James didn’t feel confident in himself to push the bike as much as he needed to and therefore didn’t ride the bike to its full potential. We now look forward to the last races and hope to capitalise on a good result.”

2. Ducatisumisura, the new Ducati website for personalised motorcycle suit‏

   Posted on 11:00am Thursday 6th Aug 2015

   The website has all the instructions the user needs to create the ideal suit with his/her choice of logos, texts and colours
   
   • The configurator lets every Ducatista be as creative as they want
   • The website is in 7 languages and is optimized for computers and all other devices

   Borgo Panigale (Bologna, Italy), 31 July 2015 – Customize a Ducati suit by modifying its colours and adding logos and texts with just one click. The new website Ducatisumisura (www.ducatisumisura.com) is online. The site of the iconic Bologna motorcycle manufacturer dedicated to the ‘SuMisura’ (i.e. custom made) project was born in collaboration with Dainese to satisfy requests for personalising Ducati suits.

   Ducatisumisura.com offers the possibility to create an online sketch of one’s perfect suit: the website has all the instructions to fine-tune the suit and a configurator that lets the user personalize the chosen model. Once the sketch is complete it can be printed, saved and sent to a trusted dealership that will order the suit created by the client.

   At Ducatisumisura.com four models of suits can be chosen from: Ducati Corse C2 Racing suit, D|air® racing Ducati Corse Racing suit, Ducati Corse Lady Racing suit and the Ducati Corse C2 Two-piece suit.

   For those who don’t wear standard sizes, they can find the “custom made” section on the new website where they can make an appointment with a Ducati dealer who will take their measurements and finalize all aspects of the suit.

   The website is translated into seven languages and is optimized for use on any type of screen, from computers to all hand-held devices. 

3. Ducati Museum awarded TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence 2015

   Posted on 8:54am Monday 20th Jul 2015

   Permanent exhibition at Ducati Motor Holding obtains the prestigious award for the fourth year running
   • The Ducati Museum racks up a string of excellent reviews on the world’s greatest travel website
   • More than 40,000 visitors to the Bologna-based museum every year

   For the fourth year running the Ducati Museum has been awarded the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, a prestigious acknowledgment given to tourist facilities and attractions that are consistently given excellent reviews on the world’s largest travel website. The TripAdvisor Award reflects the high satisfaction ratings posted by the constant stream of visitors to the Ducati Museum which, in 2014 alone, attracted over 40,000 people from all over the world. TripAdvisor contributors gave the Ducati Museum a score (4.5 out of 5) that almost reached the website maximum.

   To select the winners of the Certificate of Excellence, TripAdvisor uses a special algorithm that takes into account a range of factors such as the quality, quantity and relevance of the reviews. It also considers the opinions posted by travellers over the last 12 months, the position of the attraction in the site’s popularity rankings and how long it has been in those rankings.

   The Ducati Museum, actually located inside the motorcycle production plant, takes visitors into the past, letting them discover the origins of Ducati and admire the bikes that have written international motorcycling history. Inaugurated in 1998, the Museum covers an area of about 850 square metres and offers a unique insight into over half a century of motorcycle racing. The Museum showcases the very best ever built by Ducati: from the products of the pre-motorcycle era and the famous 1946 Cucciolo, to the Desmosedici GP that won the World Motorcycling Championship. This history journey passes through seven different theme-based multimedia rooms organised by Livio Lodi, the museum’s curator; here, the bikes live on with the thrills they once generated, thanks to vintage footage, accessories and curios, being able to recreate the entire Ducati saga. The Museum is thus a perfect representation of the Bologna-based motorcycle manufacturer’s unique history, which has combined technological innovation and design with exceptional sports performance.

   The Ducati Museum can also be visited virtually on Google Maps: here, thanks to high definition images, it’s possible to enter the Red Passion Temple by following the famous Cavalieri Ducati street that takes you to the company and then exploring, right down to the last detail, the rooms and the displayed bikes. A fantastic opportunity to experience Ducati from anywhere in the world, anytime.

   In 2012 the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities (Regional Supervisor of Cultural and Landscape Heritage of Emilia Romagna) declared the Ducati Museum, together with the motorcycle manufacturer’s archives, to be of outstanding historical and cultural importance, so much so that they are on the official archival heritage listings.

   Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. - A Sole Shareholder Company - A Company subject to the Management and Coordination activities of AUDI AG

   Founded in 1926, Ducati has been producing sport-inspired motorcycles since 1946. Today, their motorcycles are characterized by performance engines with Desmodromic valve actuation, innovative design and avant-garde technology. Covering several market segments, Ducati's range of motorcycles is divided into model families which include: Diavel, Hypermotard, Monster, Multistrada, Streetfighter, and Superbike. In 2015 Ducati presents the Ducati Scrambler: not just a new motorcycle but rather a new brand, offering a whole new world made up of bikes, accessories and apparel that provide the last word in self-expression.

   These authentic icons of “made in Italy”, together with an extensive range of associated accessories and technical and lifestyle apparel, are distributed in 90 countries around the world, with concentration on the European, North American and Asia-Pacific markets. In addition to the Bologna factory located in the Borgo Panigale area, Ducati has a plant in Thailand, which opened in 2011 and assembles motorcycles for the Asian market, and, since 2012, another in Brazil that assembles motorcycles for South America. In 2014 Ducati delivered 45,100 motorcycles to customers, an all-time company record.

   Ducati competes in both the World Superbike and MotoGP World Championships. In Superbike Ducati has won 17 Manufacturers' titles and 14 Riders' titles and in 2011 passed the historic milestone of 300 race victories. Ducati have participated in MotoGP since 2003, winning both the Manufacturers' and Riders' titles in 2007.

   

4. Ducati officially marks its arrival in India with a press conference at the largest Ducati Store in the world‏

   Posted on 5:00pm Monday 22nd Jun 2015

   Ducati hold first press conference in India at the largest Ducati Store in the world
   • Two new variants of the Scrambler revealed in India - Classic and Full Throttle
   • Ducati India announces the opening of its Dealership in Bangalore in October

   New Delhi, India, 22 June 2015 – At an event held in New Delhi at the largest Ducati Store in the world, the iconic Italian motorcycle brand made its first official press conference since entering India and Ducati India Pvt. Ltd. took the occasion to announce the arrival of two new variants of the Scrambler.

   Ducati India Pvt. Ltd is the youngest of 11 official subsidiaries owned worldwide by Ducati and since opening its first dealerships in Delhi NCR and Mumbai, has received a tremendous response from the motorcycling community. Their wide range of motorcycles appeal to many different types of enthusiast, such as the latest edition to the Monster family: the Monster 821, alongside the Monster S2R and 795. Ducati India also presents the Hypermotard and Hyperstrada, all models of the Diavel family and the 899, 1299, 1299 S and Panigale R.

   During the conference, Mr. Pierfrancesco Scalzo (Asia General Manager of Ducati) spoke about the brand’s history, its Italian heritage and current range, while Mr. Ravi Avalur (Ducati India Pvt. Ltd Managing Director) presented plans for India’s network, confirmed the opening of a new dealership in UB City, Bangalore in October 2015 and unveiled the the two new Scrambler variants.

   Remarking on Ducati’s official entry to India, Pierfrancesco Scalzo said: “in 2013 we began our groundwork in India and our belief in the market has been reaffirmed. This has been possible with great partners such as AMP, Infinity and VST. I have travelled extensively across the length and breadth of India, met Ducatisti, felt their passion and know that we will be successful in this country. Ducati will provide the same high standards of service in India as we do everywhere else in the world”.

   “We introduced the Scrambler Icon in June and were overwhelmed with the positive response from our customers,” said Ravi Avalur. "Now, we’re proud to unveil the Scrambler Classic and Full Throttle and are confident that motorcyclists will love these versatile machines also. Of the two new Scrambler variants introduced, the Classic is aimed at those who appreciate attention to detail and 1970s style, but who don’t want to compromise on riding pleasure and functionality. The Full Throttle version, inspired by the flat track world, is destined for those who want a motorcycle perfect for every-day use and with a distinctive racing style”.

   Mr. Pierfrancesco Scalzo concluded the event announcing new openings in the rest of the country, including Pune and Hyderabad and he remarked that the main target for Ducati is to provide unlimited satisfaction to the customers in India.

   The Ducati store in New Delhi, which is now fully operational, covers five floors and, with a total floor area of 2,694 square metres, takes over the honour of being the biggest in the world.

5. The Ducati Scrambler on show at Cholmondeley Pagent of Power

   Posted on 7:56am Wednesday 10th Jun 2015

   The Ducati Scrambler will make an appearance at CPOP for the first time
   • The Ducati Manchester stand will feature a number of Scrambler icons and the “DMC Eccythump Scrambler” special
   • Ducati Scrambler clothing will be on sale

   The Ducati Scrambler brand will be making its debut appearance at the eighth staging of the Cholmondeley Pagent of Power which will celebrate ‘power’ on land, air and water.

   Regional Ducati Scrambler dealer, Ducati Manchester will be bringing along its ‘Land of Joy’ – the term used for the world of the Ducati Scrambler that describes freedom of expression, fun and sharing of positive emotion. The ‘Land of Joy’ will incorporate a display of a number of Ducati Scrambler Icons and also a special customised bike showing the workshop skills of the dealer. The special is called the “DMC Eccythump Scrambler” and has been built using 1950's / 60's Superleggera coach building techniques and in partnership with builder Paul Eccleshare.

   The Ducati Scrambler has been a huge success since its launch thanks to its post-heritage design and its focus on the pure essence of motorcycling: two wheels, wide handlebars, a straightforward engine and endless fun. The bike inspired by the iconic 70’s model now features a 75hp oil cooled L-twin two-valve 803 cc engine housed in a trellis frame. The bike has Kayaba suspension and Brembo powered ABS brakes which are featured across all four versions of the Scrambler – Icon, Classic, Full Throttle and Urban Enduro.

   As part of the Ducati Scrambler display there will also be Ducati Scrambler clothing for sale and sales staff on hand to discuss the bikes in detail.

   Also at the event, the world’s only flying Vulcan will be taking to the skies above for its last ever Cheshire flight, with the Red Bull Matadors entertaining the crowd with an aerobatic display.

   The above, combined with camping, live music from Tenors of Rock and the RPJ Band and hundreds of exciting trade stands, will make CPOP the family-friendly motorsport event of the summer.

   For further information on the event visit: ww.cpop.co.uk a discount code of CPOPDUC will give a 10% off tickets ordered from the web site. To find out more about the Ducati Scrambler range see the website at www.scramblerducati.com