Audi has finished its acquisition of Ducati Motor Holdings, to the tune of €860 million ($1.128 billion). The deal reportedly sees Audi, through its parent company the Volkswagen Group, acquiring Ducati for roughly seven times what it earned in revenue last year, but Audi is also assuming all of Ducati’s debt, which has been rumored as high as €200 million, making the revenue multiple significantly smaller. With those outcomes clearly not occurring, we dare say that Ducati is finding a more stable home within Audi and the Volkswagen Group. Providing access to capital and experience manufacturing on a global scale, the German company has a lot to offer Ducati, and has shown with its work on Lamborghini, that it knows how to handle an iconic Italian brand.
Racing in the Bol d’Argent, the three-hour endurance race that supports the Bol d’Or 24 hour race, we get our…
With the weather changing almost constantly during the weekend’s race and close to freezing at night, the 76th annual Bol…
Jerez is to remain on the MotoGP calendar for at least one more year. Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta announced the extension during…
Posting its seventh consecutive quarter of sales growth, Ducati North America has started 2012 on the right foot, posting a…
What a difference a tire makes. Last season in each of Cal Crutchlow’s rider debriefs that I attended, the topic at some point came around to the Bridgestone tire and how treacherous it was during warm-up. Once the tire reached operating temperature, it was fantastic if the rider could keep it hot enough. But until it gathered enough heat, it was flat out dangerous, as so many cold tire high-side crashes proved in 2011. Crutchlow was one of the most outspoken riders in asking Bridgestone to change the tire design, which they have done for 2012. This year’s control tire warms up much faster, allowing riders to get through the early laps of a session without a dramatic high side, of which we had none in Qatar.