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Ducati’s MotoGP test plan has suffered a blow, after the Bologna factory wrongly interpreted the testing rules in booking the Losail Circuit in Qatar for a private test on Sunday and Monday.

The plan for the private test had been to have Casey Stoner test the Ducati Desmosedici GP (or GP16, as everyone else calls it) at Qatar on Sunday and Monday, after the official IRTA test had finished at the track.

The benefits for Ducati would have been that Stoner would have been testing on a relatively clean track under broadly similar conditions as the other MotoGP riders, allowing a good back-to-back comparison of the feedback between the factory riders and Stoner.

The 2016 Ducati Desmosedici GP, also known as the Desmo 16 GP, will be the factory-backed machine that Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone campaign in this year’s MotoGP Championship.

Like its name change, the Desmo 16 GP is an evolution over last year’s model, the Desmosedici GP15. Subtle changes can be seen to the aerodynamics package, the most striking aspects of which are the four aerodynamical wings that protrude like a catfishes whiskers from the motorcycle.

The Akrapovi? exhaust system has been changed slightly as well, with its low-mount can tucked nicely away into the Desmo 16 GP’s belly pan.

Of course, the big changes are the 17″ wheels that are now shod with Michelin tires, as well as the unified spec-electronics package that is hidden within the Desmo 16’s ECU – these being the big rules changes for the 2016 season.

Great hope has been placed on the shoulders of the 2016 Ducati Desmosedici GP, with the expectation that the machine can gain Ducati a MotoGP victory this year.

With ample power, and finally sharp handling, the recipe is all there, but Ducati Corse clearly has some more work to do before the season-opener in Qatar.