A bit of a Christmas surprise landed in our inbox today, as the Ducati MotoE project is further along than expected, with their “V21L” prototype bike caught making laps at the Misano World Circuit.
The bike is the first iteration of what will be raced in the MotoE World Cup, starting in the 2023 season.
And while Ducati just announced its intent to takeover that series a few months ago, the Italian brand is clearly far from the beginning stages of that project.
Episode 238 of the Paddock Pass Podcast is out, and this show covers the MotoGP action from the San Marino GP at the Misano World Circuit
On the mics, we have Steve English, David Emmett, Neil Morrison, and Adam Wheeler, as they cover what turned out to be a very eventful weekend in Italy.
And so we leave England, and the debacle that was Silverstone, a race that was canceled due to rain in a land which is green and pleasant thanks to the generous application of precipitation all year round. It is said that the English language has as many words for rain as some Inuit languages have for snow, but I have been told that the number of words the Inuit have for snow is greatly exaggerated.
MotoGP heads south to Misano, for a late summer race on the Adriatic Riviera and the certainty of a race actually happening. The washout at Silverstone could never happen at Misano, could it? Those with longer memories will remember 2007, and the first race back at the Italian circuit since Wayne Rainey suffered his career-ending injury there.
A sudden flash storm on Friday revealed a severe drainage problem, with water flooding into the garages causing teams to scramble to get everything up above floor level, and leaving circuit officials standing waist-deep in water at one part of the track looking for a blocked drain.
Fortunately, the circuit fixed the problems, and since then, rain has not stopped practice from happening. So if it rains this weekend – and the forecast is for showers both on Friday afternoon and on Saturday morning – the event should be able to proceed as normal. But if the forecast is correct, then it will have an effect on Sunday’s race. Any loss of practice time will benefit any rider who has tested here recently. And as it happens, a bunch of factories and teams have done just that.
World Ducati Week 2018 was this past weekend, and the event saw 90,000 people show up at the Misano World Circuit (for reference, about 150,000 fans show up to the race track on a MotoGP weekend).
While there is plenty at the race track for loyal Ducatisti to see, the crown jewel of WDW2018 was the Race of Champions, which saw a number of Ducati riders battling in sprint race, on race-prepped Ducati Panigale V4 S superbikes.
If seeing riders like Andrea Dovizioso, Marco Melandri, and Troy Bayliss banging bars wasn’t enough for you, the liveries on the Panigale V4 race bikes were truly eye-catching.
Wisely, Ducati is making these 12 special machines available, in a public auction on eBay, which will go until 6pm (CET) on Saturday, July 28th.
Nicky Hayden may have left us, but he is not forgotten, and now the World Champion will have a permanent memorial in Misano, Italy, as the city pays tribute to the American rider as well.
Accordingly, the Council of Misano is planning to create the “Giardino Nicky Hayden”, which will be a garden near the intersection where Hayden’s fateful crash occurred, not far from the Misano World Circuit, at corner of via Ca’ Raffaelli and via Tavoleto.
The memorial garden will be built by Denis Pazzaglini, friend and former mechanic to Hayden, during his time in the Repsol Honda MotoGP team.
The garden is expected to open later this year on May 22nd, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of losing Hayden during his bicycling incident involving another vehicle.
Italian media is reporting an invitation to a Ducati event at the Misano World Circuit, the Thursday before the MotoGP race weekend held on the Adriatic Coast.
The event has surely something to do with Ducati’s new V4 superbike, with Ducati claiming it will be “the sound of a new era” for the Italian manufacturer.
That sound surely will be of the new V4 powerplant, which will not only replace the company’s iconic v-twin superbike lineup, but also power future large-displacement sport bikes from Ducati – something Claudio Domenicali told Asphalt & Rubber at the Ducati 1299 Panigale R Final Edition launch.
From Silverstone to Misano: it is hard to think of a starker contrast in circuits. Silverstone sits atop a windswept hilltop in the center of England, surrounded by verdant valleys and ancient villages. Misano nestles just above the vast string of late 20th Century hotel blocks, which form Italy’s Adriatic Riviera.
Silverstone is often wet, and usually cold, no matter what time of year we go there. Misano swelters in the heat of a late Italian summer.
The tracks are very different too. Silverstone is a vast, sweeping expanse of fast and challenging tarmac. Misano is a tightly compressed complex of loops demanding more of fuel management, than of the rider.
Silverstone has old, worn, slippery tarmac with huge bumps rippled in by F1 and other car racing. Up until 2015, Misano was much the same. But it was resurfaced last year, and has fresh, dark, smooth asphalt that has a lot more grip than the old surface.
So the MotoGP riders face a very different kettle of fish a week after Silverstone. The layout of the track is likely to have the biggest impact.
Where Silverstone is full of fast third and fourth gear corners which riders enter carrying a lot of speed, most of the turns at Misano are all first and second gear. Drive and traction are the watchwords, though there are three or four corners where braking is at a premium as well.
At the San Marino GP today, MotoGP officially retired the use of #58, giving honor to Marco Simoncelli, who died almost five years ago while racing in the Malaysian GP at Sepang.
Of course, this weekend’s stop on the MotoGP Championship calendar actually takes place at the Misano World Circuit, which changed its official name to the the “Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli” in order to honor the fallen racer.
This makes the San Marino GP a fitting venue for Simoncelli’s number to be retired, and of course the weekend’s events take place in front of a home crowd, with Simoncelli born just a few miles away on the coast, in Cattolica.
“It’s like drinking from a firehose” is the phrase I would use over and over while telling people about my recent trip to this year’s World Ducati Week.
The three-day event attracted 81,000 rabid Ducati fans through the gates of the Misano race track, which is just a stone’s throw from Italy’s Adriatic Coast. One of the best race tracks in the world, along one of Italy’s best beaches…the recipe for success here might seem obvious.
Beyond these factors though, World Ducati Week itself is a magnet event that attracts Ducatisti from the world over by offering them the ultimate Ducati experience.
Strangely enough though, you don’t even have to be a Ducati fan to attend – though it helps – as WDW2016 is something that any motorcyclist can enjoy.
For my part in this, I will admit to having more than one Ducati in my garage (none on press loan, mind you), so consider my glass of Kool-aid aptly filled, but truthful Ducati has put together a motorcycle enthusiast agenda that other brands and venues should take note of .
As such, World Ducati Week is a great example of how to get motorcyclists excited about being…well, motorcyclists.
Ducati does this by having no shortage of events and spectacles for fans to enjoy, and while the venue is a race track, most of what makes World Ducati Week special doesn’t take place on the Misano Circuit itself.
Instead, the key to World Ducati Week’s success is the carnival atmosphere, that immerses attendees in the very best that the Ducati brand has to offer.
If you’re attending this year’s World Ducati Week, then you’re in for a treat, as Ducati is set to debut two new bikes at the gathering in Misano.
Details are thin at the moment, but we do know that one of the machines will be a limited-edition motorcycle that celebrates Ducati’s 90th anniversary.
Meanwhile the other bike is a new model to the Ducati range, which will be shown in a “closed room” setting as a sort of sneak peak before its official launch.
Marc Marquez wheelies past his crew after winning the Grand Prix of San Marino.
A fantastic ride by Bradley Smith. When everyone else changed to their wet setup bike he stayed out on slicks. The gamble paid off as he finished 2nd.
Scott Redding picked himself up off the floor to claim 3rd place and his debut MotoGP podium.