It’s been a weird year for factory MotoGP bike debuts. With Ducati now a part of Audi AG, the Italian team’s Wrooom! debut event was nixed, as it was jointly hosted with Ferrari.
Meanwhile in Indonesia, Yamaha Racing debuted in what looked like a basement service closet, though thankfully Movistar has come on-board as a title sponsor, creating the need to retake the team’s livery photos — hopefully with a little post-processing this time.
Just two weeks away from the opening round of the MotoGP season, in Qatar, Ducati Corse has now officially debuted its racing machine, the 2014 Ducati Desmosedici GP14.
Entered into the Open Category, Ducati will have more engines, more fuel, and softer tires for the 2014 season. Stuck though with the spec-ECU software, Ducati Corse trades that concession for the ability to continually develop its motorcycle.
This of course has angered Honda and Yamaha, who view the Open Category as the low-cost option for teams wishing to race in MotoGP. As such, Dorna has responded by placing Ducati in a new class called the “Factory 2 Option” — a class that will introduce the Factory Option restrictions, should Ducati hit certain competitive thresholds.
Source: Ducati Corse
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