The obvious point to make in the 2011 MotoGP Championship is that Ducati Corse is struggling to compete with Yamaha and Honda, despite having the G.O.A.T. himself, Valentino Rossi, riding for the Italian squad. The recent history of the Desmosedici is fraught with bullet points of issues, most of which coming back to the bike’s notoriously vague front-end. Though showing moments of promise, even brilliance, including a World Championship with Casey Stoner at the helm, the Ducati Desmosedici has earned the reputation as a career-ender and a confidence destroyer among its less fortunate pilots.

When the dream team of development came to Ducati, in the guise of Valentino Rossi and Jeremy Burgess et al, the talk before the 2011 season was that the nine-time World Champion and his perhaps even more impressive garage crew could have the Desmosedici figured out in no-time at all. With the now infamous quote from Burgess that the GP10 could be sorted out in about 20 seconds still resonating in the MotoGP paddock, we stand now well over half of the way through the current MotoGP season, and the Championship standings hide what’s been apparent from day one: the Desmoproblema requires more than a quick-fix.

The solution to fixing the Ducati Desmosedici can be broken down into three camps, and depending whose opinion you solicit, you’ll get one of the following causes for Ducati’s uncompetitive season: the motor, the chassis, or the rider. Walking us through that analysis is our good friend David Emmett (bookmark his site MotoMatters.com right now), who may not be the most astute automatic transmission driver we’ve ever seen, but when it comes to comprehensive MotoGP analysis, the man is second to none.

Putting together an exhaustive digest on the issues that are surrounding Valentino Rossi, Ducati Corse, and the Desmosedici, Emmett weighs and measures the different dynamics of the problem at hand. Head on over to MotoMatters with your beverage of choice in-hand, and hear what MotoGP’s most-enlightened journalist has to say on the biggest subject in MotoGP.

Photo: © 2011 Scott Jones Photography – All Rights Reserved

After teasing us last week with just a shot of the motor NCR Millona M16 motor, NCR has finally released full pictures of their take on the Desmosedici RR. Weighting just 319lbs, and making over 200hp at the wheel, we called the NCR M16 a Desmosedici on steroids when we first saw the specs. Now looking at the detail shots of the bike, we see plenty to drool over. Photos and more after the jump.

NCR is known for its stunning renditions of Ducati motorcycles, our personal favorite being the NCR Corse Millona One Shot. Of course no bike in the Ducati line-up is safe from getting the once over from this performance-meets-aesthetics tuning brand, and thus the NCR Millona 16 was born. Expected to weigh 145kg (319lbs), make over 200hp (at the wheel), and include a carbon frame, the NCR Millona 16 is a Ducati Desmosedici RR on steroids (BALCO would be proud).

We’ll be the first to admit that we don’t fully understand why KTM made the X-Box, better known as the go-kart on steroids…but we sure do want one nonetheless. Along that same vein, we’re not sure why a company like Ducati, known for its two-wheeled pieces of art and performance, would want to try its hand in the four-wheeled realm, but if this is the result, we could probably get over that sentiment.

Finishing the end of a limited-production run of 1,500 motorcycles, only eight Ducati Desmosedici RR motorcycles remain in the United States as Pro Italia of Glendale, CA just took delivery of the last Desmo that will hit US shores from Bologna. The venerable GP replica that a common man can own made quite a stir when it was announced, and speculation has already begun about a successor for the RR. Will the next incarnation (if there is one) be an 800cc version? Or well Corsa Rosa wait for MotoGP’s switch back to 1000cc’s?

Paginas Amarillas Aspar Team, the MotoGP team headed by Jorge “Aspar” Martinez, has just released it’s livery for the 2010 season. Now we’ve seen Ducati’s in yellow racing trim before, and it was no big deal. But for some reason, this goldenrod Ducati Desmosedici just doesn’t look quite right, and unfortunately for Aspar’s rider Hector Barbera, we’re starting the short bus jokes as of right now. Leave your own in the comments section.