Ducati Q1 2013 Sales Drop 5% – Audi Dishes the Details

Ducatisti: do you want the good news or the bad news first? The bad news is that the market for motorcycles 500cc and up is down 17% worldwide for the first quarter of this year, which means the “good” news is that Ducati is only down 5% for Q1 2013. Not exactly the start out of the gate that Audi was hoping for its newly acquired two-wheeled brand, but what are you going to do? Western Europe is a mess, with Spain and Italy continuing to go down like a…well, you know. While we don’t enjoy the misery of motorcycle brands, the fact that Ducati Motor Holding is now under the Audi AG umbrella means that we get far more detailed quarterly and yearly reports from the two-wheeled marque, and we’ve got the digits after the jump.

Mission Motorcycles: The Mission R Lives??!

Mission Motors tweeted out something interesting just a moment ago, a link to a new website for Mission Motorcycles. Teasing there a photo of the Mission R, it would seem that the electric superbike that does competitive AMA Supersport lap times at Laguna Seca, is finally set to come to production. It seems we won’t know everything about the new Mission Motorcycles project until June 3rd, though we can speculate pretty accurately on what the A&R Bothan spy network has been telling us. Expect to see the Mission R electric superbike in street legal trim, honed even further than when we rode the machine back in August last year.

Goodbye Husqvarna Nuda, We Hardly Knew Thee

Stefan Pierer’s acquisition of Husqvarna continues to baffle me. You will note I say Pierer, and not KTM, bought Husqvarna, since the Austrian CEO used Pierer Industrie AG in the transaction as a means to help side-step European antitrust issues. After all, we can’t have Europe’s largest dirt bike manufacturer, nay largest total motorcycle manufacturer, gobbling up even more brands in the two-wheeled world. But, I digress. Developing three road bikes (Husqvarna Nuda 900, Husqvarna Strada 650, & Husqvarna Terra 650), with three more concepts waiting in the wings (Husqvarna Moab, Husqvarna Baja, & Husqvarna E-G0), it is with even more confusion that we learn that Pierer & Co. intend to kill the Husqvarna Nuda project and its other street siblings.

Q&A: Yukio Kagayama Talks About the Upcoming Suzuka 8-Hour with Kevin Schwantz & Noriyuki Haga

In case you missed the story last week, Kevin Schwantz is preparing to race in this year’s Suzuka 8-Hour endurance race. For the race, Schwantz will be riding on a team formed by Yukio Kagayama, who in addition to having raced in the MotoGP, World Superbike, and British Superbike Championships, is also a previous Suzuka 8-Hour winner with the Suzuki Endurance Race Team (also joining the three-rider team Noriyuki “Nitro” Haga). Releasing a Q&A about his team’s Suzuka 8-Hour entry, Kagayama-san walks us through how the team came together, what equipment the riders will use, and his outlook on the team’s competitiveness.

KTM RC4 Concept by Luca Bar Design

A single-cylinder hooligan-maker, the KTM 690 Duke is 330 lbs (curbside without fuel) and 67hp of two-wheeled fun, and we hope that the Austrians bring the KTM 690 Duke R our way as well. While we are on the topic of things missing from KTM’s American line-up, a decent supersport is painfully obvious, yet we can’t see the folks at KTM following the paths of other brands. That’s where our friend Luca Bar comes to mind with his latest concept: the KTM RC4. Using the KTM 690 Duke platform and its LC4 engine, Bar has designed a super-single full-fairing sport bike that takes the Austrian company’s “Ready to Race” DNA and applies it to an idea that is not all that disimilar to the Ducati Supermono.

Q&A: Claudio Domenicali Talks Frameless Chassis, Sacred Cows, & The Future for Ducati

When I sat down with Claudio Domenicali at the Ducati 1199 Panigale R launch, the now-CEO of Ducati Motor Holding was still just the General Manager of the Italian motorcycle company. Four weeks after our interview though, Gabriele del Torchio would leave Ducati for Alitalia; and Domenicali, a 21-year veteran of both the racing and production departments of Ducati, would take his place at the top of Italy’s most prestigious motorcycle brand. After reading our interview from Austin, Texas after the jump, I think you will agree too.

Is Yamaha Using A Seamless Gearbox? The Data Says No

That Yamaha is working on a seamless gearbox is no secret, with Yamaha’s test riders currently racking up the kilometers around tracks in Japan. Recently, however, Spanish magazine SoloMoto published an article suggesting that Yamaha has already been using its new seamless gearbox since the beginning of the season. My own enquiries to check whether Yamaha was using a seamless gearbox or not always received the same answer: no, Yamaha is not using the seamless gearbox. To test this denial, I went out to the side of the track on Friday morning at Jerez to record the bikes as they went by.

OCC Coming Back to TV? — Universe Collapses in on Self

After a very public father/son break-up between Paul Teutul Sr. and Paul Teutul Jr., a steroid-ring scandal involving Paul Sr., and finally a bankruptcy proceeding, it appears that Orange County Choppers is the impossible to kill multi-headed hydra of doom that we all knew it was, as the custom chopper shop is once again headed to the small screen and recruiting some talent, on and off the show. Looking for “someone who will work alongside Paul Senior, running the shop and helping build some of the best custom motorcycles in the world,” OCC says it will be back on television with a new show later this month. Please for the love of god, will someone give this man the attention he craves so dearly??! Or, just shoot us in the face.

Alstare Superbike Concept by Team Alstare

We love us some concept bikes here at Asphalt & Rubber, and we have featured more than a few pieces of stunning design and imagination on our pages. Though, we can’t remember the last time one of these works of art were brought to us by a legitimate racing team, but that is what we have here with the Team Alstare Superbike Concept. A nod to the former Suzuki team’s return to the World Superbike Championship as the Ducati factory squad with Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini, Alstare has enlisted the help of designer Serge Rusak of Rusak Kreaktive Designworks to ink the shape of its futuristic Superbike concept, while Tryptik Studios handled the 3D modeling prowess.

Transcript: The Gay Question at Jerez

If you didn’t watch Thursday’s pre-event press conference for MotoGP at Jerez, it is worth a viewing right to the end (assuming you have a MotoGP.com account). Building off the news about the NBA’s Jason Collins coming out as gay in a self-written feature in Sport Illustrated, my good colleague David Emmett had the courage to inquire about the culture and acceptance of the MotoGP paddock for homosexual riders. For the sake of accuracy, after the jump is a full transcript of David’s question, as put to riders Cal Crutchlow, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez, Andrea Dovizioso, Stefan Bradl, and Scott Redding, as well as those riders’ responses to David’s inquiry.

Officially Official: Ducati Corse Signs Nicky Hayden for 2013 MotoGP Team

07/27/2012 @ 12:31 pm, by Jensen Beeler11 COMMENTS

Confirming what we already reported yesterday, Ducati Corse has officially made it official that Nicky Hayden will officially be riding in the official factory Ducati team next season, officially. His tenth season in MotoGP, and his fourth with Ducati, Hayden has re-signed for another one-year stint with the Bologna brand. An important figure for Ducati’s North America efforts, Ducati Corse heavily mentions Hayden’s influence on American owners as its reason for retaining the Kentucky Kid in its press release.

Generally said to be the hardest working rider in the MotoGP paddock, Hayden not only is a workhorse for the Ducati Corse team, as it tries to bring the GP12 and its progeny into the competitive fold, but Hayden is also an active figure for his and the team’s sponsors. With that sort of work ethic and only eight points separating him in the Championship from teammate Valentino Rossi, Hayden’s re-signing seemed like an obvious choice, though Ducati is said to have offered the American’s seat to Cal Crutchlow earlier this season.

“I’m very happy that I’ll be back with Ducati and back in MotoGP, racing at the highest level for a very important team. I love the guys I work with, I love the Ducati fans, and I love the brand,” said Hayden. “This is an important time for Ducati in a number of ways, and I’m excited that I’ll continue to be a part of it. I feel like I’ve got some unfinished business here, and hopefully we can get all the pieces into place and reap the rewards of the hard work we’ve put in the last couple of years. It’s nice to be able to make this announcement at Laguna and to share the moment with my fans, friends and family. If I can do a good result on Sunday, it could make for a pretty special birthday weekend.”

The signing of Hayden signals that Ducati Corse has figured out where Rossi is headed for the next season, though depending who you ask that either means a defection to the factory Yamaha team (as Ben Spies has vacated his seat), or it means Rossi staying put at Ducati (the outcome we find most likely). With Rossi said to be close to announcing his decision (likely at Brno), the 2012 MotoGP Silly Season is slowly coming to a close, though we still have yet to hear from Monster Yamaha Tech 3 riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow.

Source: Ducati Corse

Tagged under: 2012 silly season, contract, Ducati, Ducati Corse, Laguna Seca, MotoGP, Nicky Hayden, Red Bull US GP, silly season, US GP, USA

Comment:

Cody says:
July 27, 2012 at 12:41 PM
Words cannot express how happy I am to hear this news
Steve Lang says:
July 27, 2012 at 12:49 PM
Good to hear.
justadude says:
July 27, 2012 at 2:09 PM
Yes, I’m very happy Ducati did the right thing. Nicky has always been a loyal and hardworking team player. Congratulations Mr. Hayden. Now get out there and ride the hell out of that thing! :-)
TexusTim says:
July 27, 2012 at 4:01 PM
Very glad to hear he’s staying, would like to see him podium this weekend. So now were is Dovi and Crutch going or are they staying put ? and of course the Rossi thing isnt in stone yet either. Im for Rossi and Edwards to start there own satalite Yamaha team and take the championship next year,with Nicky right up there as well…..somehow Edwards has to have a win on his resume..remember he almost had one about 8 years ago when him and Nicky were going for the win and they both went of track..Ill never forget Edwards pushing his bike to the line!
TexusTim says:
July 27, 2012 at 4:02 PM
PS Nicky needs a hat that fits better……..lol
actionsportsconnectn says:
July 27, 2012 at 7:10 PM
"@Asphalt_Rubber: Officially Official: Ducati Corse Signs Nicky Hayden for 2013 MotoGP Team – http://t.co/0ONbhkXT #motorcycle"
Scott Gilmore says:
July 27, 2012 at 7:10 PM
Good on Ducati for doing the right thing. Glad to see things going well Nicky.
JoeD says:
July 28, 2012 at 4:45 AM
Nick, if you read this, heartfelt congratulations. You deserve the spot for your ability not politics. Ride well and the wins will come if the Ducati is sorted.
smiler says:
July 28, 2012 at 6:33 AM
Great news. I think he will do them proud next year then take to WSB or AMA? By then the Ducati should be sorted and that, one chanpionship and keeping up with Rossi on the Ducati would be a pretty dgood legacy.
I would reckon it also has a lot to do with Audi and the US mkt.
Clearly also he is a good teammate to Rossi.
Also really hope Rossi stays to they can finish the job and get Ducati back on track. Then there will be space for Cal and others to take it further.
JoeKing says:
July 28, 2012 at 9:24 AM
Sad news..what?
I think everyone was quietly thinking.. whew..Nickey almost was out of MotoGP & this was his last hope.
I think we all have it backwards. In 2006 he won the WC & had not Honda choosen to build a mini-bike for DP & done the more “logical” move (build the team around your WC..duh), we might be talking about MULTI- time WC Nicky Hayden.
Remember, he was podium-ing regularly in 2006 & more importantly..maturing. Being squeezed out of Honda because of Repsol/Puig & going to Ducati as a last resort, effectively ended Nicky’s aspirations for future greatness.
Dare I utter blasphemy..maybe he IS as good as Rossi..now where could I get that crazy idea from???
Halfie30 says:
July 28, 2012 at 9:40 PM
@ JoeKing. Remember Nicky said Rossi treated him “differently” after winning his first race, and Rossi truely admitting Hayden “deserved” the championship in ’06. Hayden, if given a competitive bike is. Of an also round. Here to hoping Ducati can make him shine one more season next year!

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