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Category: Ducati
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Following the Ducati Multistrada’s incredibly successful market introduction, the top-selling model has now also won its very first international competition with a convincing victory and 3rd place finish in the 1200cc class of the annual Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb, held on Sunday high in the mountains above Colorado Springs. The win further underlines world-wide acclaim received for the ground-breaking technology introduced by the Bologna-based company earlier this year.
In the hands of Pike’s Peak veteran, Greg Tracy, the Multistrada 1200 S took a massive lead off the start line, and rode up into the clouds to take the top podium position at 14,110 feet (4,300 meters). Tracy ran a smooth race, demonstrating the exceptional on and off-road capabilities of Ducati’s innovative new model, which uses electronically controlled “riding-modes” to deliver top performance across all terrains.
“That was an exciting week I’ve got to say,” said Tracy in the post race award ceremony. “I want to thank Ducati for the opportunity they’ve given me. The Spider Grips Falkner-Livingston Multistrada was an amazing ride. Everyone did an awesome job and that motorcycle is crazy fast. It hit 137mph (220km/h) at one point up the hill and worked great both on the dirt and the asphalt. When I was growing up, and all these factory teams would win races, I was sure they had $100,000 engines and that was why they went so fast. I was wrong. This is my first year on a factory motorcycle and I’ll tell you that bike was box-stock standard. It had some carbon, and few tweaks and that was it.”
Greg’s teammate, Alexander Smith, also put in a formidable performance, ensuring the second Ducati Multistrada entry also made the podium. Alexander fought his way up the mountain in 2nd position and looked set for a 1-2 finish before falling in the last corner and remounting to grab 3rd place.
“I have to repeat everything Greg said about the bike, it was really perfect,” said Smith. “The race was good, and if you see the start line footage you can tell how awesome the bike was working. It was a pretty smooth race up until the last corner where I kind of laid it down. I got off real quick and remounted which was still good enough for 3rd, putting both the Multistrada’s on the podium.”
More information about Ducati’s win in the Pike’s Peak International Hillclimb is available at www.ducatiusa.com
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Ducati UK today launched a new interactive website dedicated to providing the latest news, events and product information from the UK subsidiary of Ducati Motor Holdings.
The new website has been designed to provide an easy to use platform for customers to source and view the latest Ducati information. The website has a clear and flexible homepage that allows visitors to easily navigate to the area of their interest.
The website has clearly defined headings that include bikes, racing, equipment, experience, dealers and services, company and news.
Bikes – This section covers the full current range of motorcycles and is divided into the six model range families. By clicking on each individual model, users can view the full technical specification of the bike, galleries, bike history, pricing, maintenance and servicing information and also compare with other bikes back to 2001. PDF’s can be downloaded for brochures of the bikes and their accessories.
Racing – A full and up to date news section for the Ducati MotoGP and Superbike teams including news and results, rider profiles and sponsor information. A domestic racing area will be included at a later date that will accommodate news and reviews from Ducati’s involvement in BSB, British Superstock and the 848 Challenge.
Equipment – This heading provides information on accessories, apparel and special licenced products. The accessory page includes an interactive configurator section which enables the viewer to personalise each model with accessories to see how the bike will look with a new set of exhausts, wheels or some form of carbon fibre before they purchase the accessories from their local dealer. A full listing of prices is included for both accessories and clothing.
Experience – Discover the experience of owning a Ducati with listings of events going on in the UK including the Ducati Roadshow and track days. You can also find information on Ducati Owners Club and how to locate them. There are social networking sites such as the Ducati UK Facebook and Twitter and youtube. The site also sees the launch of Ducati TV in conjunction with bikechannel.com. This is a dedicated website TV channel of all things Ducati including promo videos and video of Ducati UK racing and events.
Dealers and Services – This includes a new, improved and flexible dealer locator enabling visitors to find their nearest dealer quickly and efficiently. There is also a pre-owned locator for customers to find used bikes throughout the Ducati UK dealer network.
In the Maintenance sub heading, there is information regarding warranty and maintenance and owners can download parts catalogues and also PDF’s of manuals for their bikes.
Company – This is split into two areas which covers; ‘who we are’ including information about visiting the Ducati factory and Museum, heritage, customer service and a link to the press area and ‘Partners’ relating to Partners and suppliers to the factory and MotoGP and Superbike teams.
News - All the latest news from Ducati UK can be found in this section as well as archive news and events.
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Revealed for the first time on DVD, the incredible history of Ducati told with rare movie footage, pictures and interviews from its creation in 1926 to the 2007 MotoGP World Championship title.
In close collaboration with "Strike Video" of Milan, Ducati worked with director, Angelo Barberi, to achieve the most complete and compelling account of their incredible heritage, and with so much exclusive material released for the very first time, the captivating ninety-minute movie reveals a fast-moving and exciting story.
From the innovative Ducati brothers and the birth of the "Cucciolo" to the unforgettable engineer Taglioni and the Desmodromic system. From victory in the Imola 200 to the production of the Scrambler and from Superbike dominance to debut in MotoGP, witnesses recount their personal experiences of a journey that is the story of a company, a view of Italian social history and the passion and genius that created the Ducati engines destined to write the history of motorcycling.
"This is a new way to tell the story," Livio Lodi, curator of the Ducati Museum, proudly explains. "As if leafing through an old photo album or speaking with a wise, old relative, the story becomes a fascinating view not only of Ducati’s, but also of Italy’s history. For me, it is vitally important that we share this story with Ducati fans around the world."
"Ducati – The Story" is available on DVD from Ducati Stores world-wide from July 2010 onwards.
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The sixth edition of World Ducati Week, the massive event that unites and excites the Ducati community, has finished after four incredible days with a record-breaking attendance of 60,000 motorcyclists. Held at the Misano World Circuit on the Adriatic Riviera, the celebration - entitled the ‘Red Planet Returns’ - ran in soaring temperatures from Thursday, 10th to Sunday, 13th June to become one of the best ever in the event’s history.
While Italian Ducatisti made up 60% of the total attendance at WDW2010, the remaining passionate Ducati fans travelled from 28 nations and five continents to underline the huge international appeal of the Ducati brand. Owners from Europe, USA, Australia, Russia and India, united with those from Brazil, China, Malaysia and even Gabon and Nepal to celebrate their shared passion and loyalty to the Ducati brand.
Four sun-drenched Ducati days peaked on Saturday, 12th June when the full program of events climaxed in a spectacular knock-out drag race competition that featured Ducati MotoGP and Superbike team riders aboard asphalt-ripping Ducati Streetfighters. True to form, the eight riders – Battaini, Bayliss, Byrne, Checa, Fabrizio, Haga, Hayden and Stoner - put on a fantastic show from the moment they left the pit garages, playing to the crowds that filled Misano's paddock terraces. World Superbike Ducati Xerox Team rider, Noriyuki Haga won the photo-finish final, just fractions of a second ahead of American former MotoGP Champion and current Ducati MotoGP Team rider, Nicky Hayden, with Troy Bayliss in 3rd and Casey Stoner in 4th.
Immediately after the all-star drag race, the riders joined Ducati’s top management - Gabriele Del Torchio, Claudio Domenicali and Filippo Preziosi – on stage before a stunning light and sound show pushed the evening’s excitement even further into the red.
The packed four-day program provided both entertainment and interaction for the 60,000 visitors, including events on the track and courses in the “Ducati University” presented by Ducati engineers, riders and managers from the Bologna-based manufacturer. While the Mangusta helicopter aerobatics display provided an incredible show in the air, stunt shows, vintage bike shows, motocross freestyle displays, dragsters and race track demonstrations by the Ducati Xerox Team provided the same on the ground. The event also staged concerts by four Ducati Bands, chosen from a list of local artists submitted by Ducatisti in the run-up to the event.
The massive WDW event has now become so big, it attracts sponsors and partners happy to associate their name and image in such a dynamic environment. In addition to the Generali group, who already enjoy the prestige of being a Ducati MotoGP Team sponsor, AMG-Mercedes also took the opportunity to use the event for the presentation of their new Mercedes SLK ‘Naked’, a model inspired by the Ducati Monster, the icon of naked motorcycles.
Other significant brand names and companies involved in the success of WDW2010 included, Finance Planet Compass, who are part of the Mediobanca group and provided individual financial consultation for those wishing to buy their dream Ducati.
Italwin displayed and provided a testing area for their range of new Ducati licensed electric bicycles including the ‘Ducati City Pearl’ and NCR presented their stunning new ‘NCR Millona 16’ alongside a range of NCR Ducatis and special parts produced in sophisticated materials such as titanium and carbon.
Taft, a dynamic range of Testanera professional hair products, organised a competition called ‘Style 'n' GO!’, while Toshiba presented the ‘Ducati Edition’ range of laptops and video cameras. Cartorama, the Italian leader in the field of stationery and school items, and Colombini, Italy's largest producer of children’s furniture both displayed their ‘Ducati range’ of products alongside KeyLine SpA, the leader in key-making technology, and DHL the world-famous package delivery service.
While WDW was entertaining people in Misano, Italy, the rest of the world enjoyed a virtual WDW online by connecting to the official website www.wdw2010.ducati.com, where more than 200 official photographs and 30 videos were uploaded in real time from the event. During the four days of WDW, a record 400,000 visits were also recorded on Ducati’s official Facebook page and over 60,000 people watched the action moment-by-moment by viewing videos on Ducati’s YouTube channel, making it the world’s most followed automotive channel that week.
WDW record-breaking numbers over 4 days:
• 60,000 visitors!
• 38 million km covered by Ducatisti in order to reach Misano - 80 times the distance between the earth and the moon!
• 21,000 traditional ‘piadinas’ eaten!
• 1.2 tons of sausages eaten!
• 8,600 litres of cold drinks and over 50,000 litres of mineral water consumed!
• 56,000 photographs taken by staff photographers!
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Ducati legend Carl Fogarty will be the guest of honour at the official launch of the Ducati franchise at the Sheffield Motorcycle Centre this weekend (15th and 16th May).
SMC has recently taken on the Ducati franchise and to celebrate their partnership with the Italian brand, has invited former four times World Superbike Champion Carl Fogarty as their special guest on Saturday 15th May.
The Sheffield dealer is the newest addition to the Ducati UK family and is rightly proud to add such a premium motorcycle manufacturer to their portfolio and this weekend gives SMC the chance to showcase the latest 2010 Ducati range as well as some rare & exotic Ducati’s.
The 2010 range includes the eagerly awaited Multistrada, as well as the iconic Monster, Superbikes, Hypermotards and Streetfighters and in addition there will be a wide selection of accessories and clothing to complete a stunning display of Ducati bikes and merchandise.
Everyone is welcome to enter a competition to win lunch with Carl Fogarty MBE. 4 lucky winners will join Carl for a private lunch at SMC on the day and those not lucky enough to win can be assured there will be food and drink served throughout the day.
SMC is located on the A61 Ring Road (Derek Dooley Way), Wicker Arches, Sheffield S3 8GZ
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