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Randy de Puniet Out for Seca – Roger Lee Hayden In

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If you haven’t watched the German GP at Sachsenring yet, stop reading now. After crashing during Sunday’s race and breaking his tibia and fibia, Randy de Puniet will be out for the Red Bull US GP at Laguna Seca next weekend. The horrific crash leaves de Puniet in a similar situation as to what Valentino Rossi found himself in 6 weeks ago, which gives us a glimpse as to when we can likely see the shirtless Frenchman back in MotoGP racing. Who is to replace de Puniet at Seca? Why none other than Roger Lee Hayden.

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MotoGP

Ducati Desmosedici Gets Wings for Sachsenring

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MotoGP fans in attendance during qualifying at the German GP may have felt like they were watching a Formula 1 race. This is because while at Sachsenring on Saturday, the Marlboro Ducati team used a new fairing design for the Desmosedici GP10 that incorporates F1-style winglets.

Used for only part of Saturday’s sessions, both Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were fitted with the new fairing, which has small lateral ‘wings’ on each side of the bike. Ducati says these wings are designed “to help prevent wheelies around the dramatic undulations” of the German circuit. We just think they look pretty cool. More photos after the jump.

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Bikes

Confederate Black Flag – The P120 Fighter is Now Available in Black

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Confederate Motorcycles has taken 13 of its P120 Fighter motorcycles and given them the black-out treatment. Hoping to draw the ire of old ladies around the United States, the P120 Fighter looks even more sinister in black than its bare-metal counterpart. If you want one of these special edition “Black Flag” P120 Fighters you better hurry up though, only nine bikes are left on the reserve. Check the photo goodness after the jump.

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Racing

Red Flag Interrupts Qualifying at Sachsenring

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MotoGP qualifying was underway today in Germany, as riders took to Sachsenring with good weather abounding. With the return of Valentino Rossi to the series, the MotoGP paddock is buzzing with excitement, but the good vibrations would be cut short as the qualifying session was red flagged part-way through.

Seemingly grenading one of his six precious motors, Jorge Lorenzo dumped oil onto the German track, but before officials could the halt the session, Ben Spies and Randy de Puniet experienced a better understanding to what a mu coefficient is, and ended up in the gravel trap. While Spies was un-hurt, de Puniet was seen grabbing his ankle after the crash. The French rider did not participate in the restarted qualifying session, and spent his time in Clinica Mobile.

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News

New Ducati Model to be Unveiled at Laguna Seca

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UPDATE: Ducati will be unveiling to the public its 2011 Ducati 848 Superbike EVO, which will have a $1,000 cheaper “Dark” variant as well.

Get ready Ducatisti, a new Ducati model is coming in two weeks. To be launched at Laguna Seca’s Ducati Island during the GP weekend, Ducati is tight lipped as to what the new model could be. In our invitation to the event, we are told only that the unveiling will be “hosted by four very excited guests to whom this new model means quite a lot.” The unveiling will be at 1pm on Saturday, and we’ll be there with our cameras.

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News

Michael Lock Officially Leaving Ducati North America

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UPDATE: Michael Lock has announced that he has taken on the role of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Think, an electric car manufacturer.

Asphalt & Rubber broke the news last week that Michael Lock was leaving Ducati North America before the company even knew it, and now the news that Michael Lock is leaving Ducati North America is finally official. Leaving the company in two weeks at the end of July, Lock will be moving on to pursue other interests.

Ducati Holdings Vice President of Sales Cristiano Silei will takeover at Ducati N.A. in the interim, as the company looks for a new CEO. With such short-notice on Lock’s departure, we’re left pondering why the successful CEO is leaving the company, more as we find it. Press release after the jump.

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Rumors

LEAKED: Sketch Explains Ducati Mega Monster

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This sketch really explains itself. Porportedly coming from an unnamed Ducati dealer, we see that the yet-to-be unveild Mega Monster will feature the 1198cc Testastretta 11° v-twin motor. Also mentioned in the sketch is a ride-by-wire throttle and traction control system. If this is truly Ducati Project 0803, can we please move on to Project 0804…this one makes baby Jesus cry.

Source: Ducati.ms via Ducati News Today

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Bikes

Roehr eSuperbike Revealed

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Since we broke the news on the pricing and technical specs on Roehr’s electric motorcycles, we’ve been patiently waiting for a glimpse at the machine(s). Built around a Hyosung chassis, all three Roehrs feature AC induction motor technology, with the eSupersport using a single-motor setup, while the eSuperbike and eSuperbike RR feature twin-motors.

The amount of LiFePo4 battery power on-board varies across the models, which will affect range; but since bigger is better, we expect the 7.7 kWh, 135+ MPH, twin-motor Roehr eSuperbikeRR to pique your interest the most. Check after the jump for a full model breakdown, along with more photos.

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Banter

The Ducati Coloring Book – Get Out Your Red Crayon

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Our parents discouraged us from motorcycles at an early age. Riding a Big Wheels until the age of 17, this author’s family viewed two-wheeled vehicles as rolling organ donor factories. Thus as kids, we only got crappy dinosaur coloring books when we were younger, and maybe if we were really good a couple TMNT books with extra green crayons.

Imagine what our motorcycling addiction would have be like today if our parents had given us a coloring book based around motorcycles. It’s too late for us, but there’s still time for today’s wee-ones. Get your own Ducati Coloring Book (links to a PDF), courtesy of DucCutters. Beck, if your parents don’t print this out for you, let us know.

Source: DucCutters via Ducati News Today

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Racing

Don’t Call It a Comeback – Miguel Duhamel Riding as an AMA Wild Card at Laguna Seca

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AMA superstar Miguel Duhamel will return to superbike racing for the first time since the 2009 Daytona 200, riding as a wild card at the Laguna Seca round of the AMA Pro Road Racing series held during the Red Bull Gran Prix weekend. The eight-time AMA Pro Road Racing Champion won virtually all his races on a Honda, but for Seca he’ll be riding with Moto Forza – NovaTac Racing Ducati.

Duhamel has the all-time win record in AMA Pro Road Racing, with 86 victories to his name. Five of those wins came from Laguna Seca, which makes Duhamel a potent rider at the course for the GP weekend, despite Moto Forza – NovaTac having a less than competitive package with their Ducati.

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