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Stoner “Has Already Decided to Go” to Honda

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Crash.net is reporting that Casey Stoner has already made his mind up to leave Ducati, according to a high-ranking Marlboro Ducati team member. While rumors were rife a couple weeks ago that Stoner had signed a deal to ride with HRC in the upcoming season, parties were quick to correct that nothing had been signed, and this was still rumor. Rumor it might be, but the skinny in the MotoGP paddock is that Stoner has basically come to terms with riding with Honda in 2011, with the contract ready to go, but still sans signatures.

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Opinion/Editorial

Let’s Hype This Bitch! – 60 Day Wait for the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200

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Ducati has reported that the first 500 initial pre-orders for the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200 have been filled, and there is now a 60 day waiting period for the new sport-tourer. Citing a strong reception to the Multistrada’s “four-bikes-in-one” capability, Ducati sees an additional 500 units to be sold in the coming months. This last statement seems sort of like a no-brainer, after-all another 500 bikes will be sold eventually, right?

Actually, the entire statement is sort of strange when you consider what 500 pre-sold orders really entails in a markets like the United States & Canada. With a plethora of dealers in these countries, the reality is that this statement amounts to dealerships pre-selling their initial inventory, which consisted of one or two motorcycles. Yes, the Ducati Multistrada 1200 is sold-out for the next two month, but when you ship only 500 units to the entire North American market, you can almost guarantee being sold out on a bike during its release, right?

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News

Up-Close With the Pikes Peak Multistrada 1200S

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We were lucky enough today to get some shots from an Asphalt & Rubber reader who was in attendance at the Newport Beach Ducati shop to check out the Pikes Peak Ducati Multistrada 1200S race bike. From what we can tell the race bike has a cropped windsceen, hand-guards, revamped tail section (no luggage racks needed!), and a killer paint job. The overall affect is pretty dramatic, and makes the Multistrada 1200S look like a real speed demon. Ducati North America, can you say race replica? Thanks for the photos John!

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News

Ducati Multistrada 1200S to Race at Pikes Peak

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In what we assume is an effort to draw Ducati’s racing heritage onto their new sport-tourer, the 2010 Ducati Multistrada 1200, Ducati has announced that it will run a pair of the new Multistrada’s at the 2010 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Ducati is looking to reclaim its 1200cc-class victory from 2008, where the company secretly used a prototype Hypermotard 1100 (what later became the 2010 Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO), in what the company calls a “skunk works” mission. In order to secure victory, Ducati has partnered with Ducati of Newport Beach and Spider Grips of Southern California, the same people behind the 2008 winning team. More after the jump.

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Rumors

Troy Bayliss Eyes Return to World Superbike – Making a Wild Card Entry in Italy?

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Nearly two years after the Australian threw in the towel on motorcycle racing, Troy Bayliss has found a way to return to motorcycling headlines by his rumored intention to re-enter the World Superbike racing series. After recently testing for Ducati at Mugello (Bayliss is still on the Italian payroll as a test rider), Troy made it clear that he missed racing, and would like to return to the sport. While many sites are pegging a 2011 season for the Australian rider, we could see him as a wild card entry as early as Misano…if Bayliss goes through on his desires to race again.

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Racing

Twins Get 3kg Weight Reduction in World Superbike After Rules Threshold Reached

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After public pressure from Althea Ducati and surely private pressure from Ducati Corse, the FIM has agreed to allow twin-cylinder motorcycles in World Superbike to have a 3kg lower minimum weight allowance. Effective at the Miller Motorsports Park round of WSBK, twins (essentially the Ducati’s) will be allowed a minimum weight of 165kg (363.7lbs), down from the previous 168kg minimum weight allowance. The mode of this change in rules comes about from how the rules were drafted, which allow for a continuous revision of basic components to the rules as the season goes forward. More on that after the jump.

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Racing

Silly Season: Italian Press Says Stoner Signed with Honda – Rossi Offered Deal by Ducati

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UPDATE: GPOne.com (probably the most reliable source in the Italian Media) has gotten word from Livio Suppo that “no one has signed anything yet”, which probably confirms that Stoner is talking to HRC, but obviously hasn’t made his mind up about anything.

Silly season is officially underway starting today as the Italian press is full of accounts (all penning their source as being from Sportmediaset) that Casey Stoner has signed with the Repsol Honda MotoGP team, with a sub-headline that Valentino Rossi has been offered a two-year contract with Ducati. Sportmediaset cites the deciding reason for Stoner jumping ship as being the Australian rider’s disappointment in how Ducati backed him during his mysterious illness last year.

Despite headlining Stoner’s move, the bulk of their article concerns Rossi’s switch to Ducati, which may be a tip-off on the validity of the news, as the Italian press loves to pair the two marquee names together. We wade through the silly season possibilities further after the jump.

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Bikes

Bezzi Imagines Ducati Dirt/Supermotard Bikes

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We don’t expect Ducati to start making dirt-derived motorcycles anytime soon, but that didn’t stop Italian motorcycle sketcher Oberdan Bezzi from inking a pair of drawings that explore this unlikely scenario. Named the Desmotard and Desmocross, Bezzi takes a fairly standard approach to the aesthetics of dirt bikes, and adds a few Ducati inspired touches. If you close your eyes and imagine a Ducati SX bike, is this what you see? It’s hard for us to say yes to that question, but we do love the naming convention being used.

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Rumors

Silly Season: Stoner to HRC for 2011 MotoGP?

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Yes silly season is well upon us now for MotoGP, and rumors are swelling after Livio Suppo spent time with Casey Stoner and his father during the MotoGP testing at Jerez, Spain. Suppo, who moved to HRC after 11 years with Ducati, is rumored to have met with Stoner in order to have the Australian rider make a switch of teams in 2011. The Honda marketing manager made it clear when he jumped ship from Ducati that he would be back for Stoner, a rumor that’s been confirmed by Loris Capirossi, and passed around the paddock more than a few times.

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Racing

Question of the Day: Should Ducati Give Factory Support to Althea Ducati and Carlos Checa?

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Our good colleagues over at MotoBlog.it delved into this idea today, and it brings up an interesting issue. At what point does Ducati begin supporting the privateer efforts of Althea Ducati and its rider Carlos Checa?

Checa is of course already has a win under his belt this season, not to mention that he has had very strong and consistent finishes. Checa also leads the factory Ducati riders by 18 (Haga) & 50 (Fabrizio) points…all of which was accomplished on a machine that should be inferior to what Xerox Ducati has been racing, and achieving lesser results with to this point in the season.

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