| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1954 |
| Headquarters | Bologna, Italy |
| Key people | Claudio Domenicali, Ducati Corse CEO Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse Director General |
| Parent | Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A |
| Website | Ducati Corse |
Ducati Corse S.r.l. is a subsidiary arm of Ducati that deals with the firm's involvement in motorcycle racing. It is directed by Claudio Domenicali and is based inside Bologna, in quartiere Borgo Panigale. More than one hundred people work in Ducati Corse (almost 10% of the Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. workforce).[1] Ducati Corse currently competes in MotoGP, the Superbike World Championship and other national championships.
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The company is split into four departments.
Technical research and development is composed of two teams responsible for the design and development of the motorcycles that compete in the MotoGP and Superbike championships.
The sporting activities department is responsible for the factory teams that take part in the MotoGP and Superbike championships.
The commercial activities department is responsible for providing private teams with motorcycles and spare parts. It also provides consultancy services and technical assistance to Ducati privateers take part in the Superbike World Championship and in national Superbike championships. From 2004 Ducati Corse also supports a satellite team in MotoGP, supplying bikes and technical support.
The marketing and communication department's goal is to increase and manage the Ducati brand image in racing. It is also responsible for Ducati Corse official merchandising line.
| Ducati Team | |
|---|---|
| 2011 name | Ducati Team |
| Base | Bologna, Italy |
| Principal | Vittoriano Guareschi |
| Rider(s) | 46 Valentino Rossi 69 Nicky Hayden |
| Motorcycle | Ducati Desmosedici GP11 |
| Tyres | Bridgestone |
| Riders' Championships | 1 2007 Casey Stoner |
When the MotoGP technical rules changed in the 2002 season, giving priority to four-stroke machinery Ducati decided to enter Grand Prix motorcycle racing.
Ducati's MotoGP motorcycle was unveiled at the 2002 Italian GP at Mugello, for use in the 2003 MotoGP championship. Ducati began taking part in the MotoGP Championship in the 2003 season and won their first championship within 5 years in the 2007 season. Marlboro has been the title sponsor since 2003, although its name does not currently appear on the team's motorcycle. This comes at a time when advertising of tobacco sponsorship has become illegal in the European Union and other major teams have withdrawn from relationships with tobacco companies, for example Yamaha have ended their five year relationship with Fortuna/Gauloises.
Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss competed in all rounds of the 2003 MotoGP championship. Loris Capirossi, got a podium in the opening round of the championship in Japan and won the GP Catalunya in Barcelona. Capirossi finished fourth in the final championship standings and Bayliss sixth; while Ducati finished second overall in the Manufacturers’ standings.
A large part of the 2004 season went by before the bike became competitive, but the season concluded with both riders on the podium.
In the 2005 season, Bayliss was replaced by the Spanish rider Carlos Checa and Ducati switched tyres suppliers to Bridgestone. Capirossi took two wins in the Grand Prix of Japan at Twin Ring Motegi and in the Malaysian GP at Sepang, while Checa scored a brace of podium finishes
Spanish rider Sete Gibernau replaced Checa for the 2006 season. The team took its first win of 2006 in the opening GP at Jerez de la Frontera, followed by a podium in Qatar. Capirossi led the championship for a short while, but at the start of the Grand prix de Catalunya at Barcelona, Capirossi's bike collided with Gibernau's. Both riders ended up injured and in hospital, with Gibernau sustaining a broken collar bone. Capirossi struggled at the Dutch TT race a week later, while Gibernau was replaced by German Alex Hofmann for this race, the British Grand Prix, and also the Czech Grand Prix after undergoing additional surgery. With Gibernau also sidelined for the final round of the season at Valencia, Ducati recalled Bayliss, who was recently crowned Superbike World champion. The race was won by Bayliss, his first MotoGP victory, with Capirossi taking second place for the first Ducati 1-2 finish.
Engine displacement was reduced to 800 cc for the 2007 season. Ducati started development of its 800 cc motorcycle extremely early, and according to Ducati's racing chief Filippo Preziosi, by August 2006, Ducati had already built twenty 800 cc engines with various specifications.[2] Loris Capirossi was joined in the team by Casey Stoner. During the most part of the 2007 season, Stoner dominated the field, obtaining his and the team's first MotoGP World Championship in the circuit of Motegi, Japan, on September 23, 2007, four races before the end of the season.
At the end of season, Ducati's chief engineer Alan Jenkins was awarded the Sir Jackie Stewart Award for brilliance throughout the season.[3]
Casey Stoner remained with the team and was partnered with Marco Melandri from the 2008 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Marco had a difficult time adapting to the GP-8's performance. Ducati and Melandri mutually agreed to shorten his two year contract to one year midway through the 2008 MotoGP season.
Again, Casey Stoner remains with the team while Nicky Hayden became Stoner's new teammate on the factory Carbon Fibre chassis Ducati GP9, replacing Marco Melandri who moves to Kawasaki for the 2009 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. Halfway through the season Finnish rookie Mika Kallio was given the chance to compete for the team for 3 grands prix, due to Stoner being unavailable for those grands prix as he worked to recover from his illness.
Once again Casey Stoner joins with Nicky Hayden for 2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.
On 9 July 2010, Casey Stoner announced that he would join Honda Racing Corporation for the 2011 season, after four years at Ducati.[4]
On 15 August 2010, after the MotoGP Brno race, Valentino Rossi confirmed he would be riding for Ducati Corse, signing a two year deal to start with the 2011 season.[5][6]
| 2010 name | Ducati Xerox |
|---|---|
| Base | Bologna, Italy |
| Team principal/s | Ernesto Marinelli |
| Race riders | n/a |
| Motorcycle | Ducati 1198 F10 |
| Tyres | Pirelli |
| Riders' Championships | 13 1990 Raymond Roche 1991 Doug Polen 1992 Doug Polen 1994 Carl Fogarty 1995 Carl Fogarty 1996 Troy Corser 1998 Carl Fogarty 1999 Carl Fogarty 2001 Troy Bayliss 2003 Neil Hodgson 2004 James Toseland 2006 Troy Bayliss 2008 Troy Bayliss |
Ducati has been taking part in the Superbike World Championship since it began in 1988 until 2010. Using 1000 cc V-twin engines Ducati was able to dominate the championship for many years. From 1994 to 1999 Carl Fogarty won the title 4 times on Ducatis. Australians Troy Corser and Troy Bayliss won the 1996 and 2001 titles respectively on Ducatis
In 2003, the recent rule changes in MotoGP to allow 4-stroke engines meant that the Japanese manufacturers had focused their resources there, leaving the Superbike World Championship with limited factory involvement.[7] Ducati Corse entered the only 2 Ducati 999s in the field, taking 20 wins from 24 races in a season where all races were won by Ducati. Neil Hodgson won the title on a Factory Ducati, with the team finishing the season with 600 points, a record point score by a constructor in a season. 2004 was a similar story, James Toseland winning the title although Ten Kate Honda's Chris Vermeulen prevented a Ducati clean-sweep.
2006 saw the return of Bayliss to the Superbike World Championship after 3 years in MotoGP. The combination of Bayliss and Ducati proved unstoppable and they dominated the season winning 12 races.
In 2007, Troy Bayliss finished fourth riding once again a Ducati 999. Even though production of the 999 ended in 2006 and the bike was replaced by the Ducati 1098, Ducati produced 150 limited edition 999s to satisfy homologation requirements.
For 2008, Ducati raced a homologated version of the 1098R. The FIM, the sanctioning body for the Superbike World Championship, has raised the displacement limit for 2 cylinder engines to 1,200 cc.[8] Bayliss won his 3rd world champion on 1098 in 2008. Bayliss retired at the end of the 2008 season, after ten years in which he had raced a Ducati every year except 2005 (in which he raced a Sito Pons Honda in MotoGP).
2009 saw Noriyuki Haga, who replaced Bayliss, partnered with Michel Fabrizio.[9]Haga had the fantastic season on Ducati and only losing the championship by 6 points. In end, Haga ended the season as second while Fabrizio as third in overall championship standing.
Once again, 2010 began with Noriyuki Haga and Michel Fabrizio as partner for Ducati in SBK.
On 27 August 2010, it was announced that Ducati SBK will no longer compete with a factory team in 2011, after 23 seasons which had brought the marque a total of 29 riders' and manufacturers' championship titles, instead limiting its participation to privateer teams.[10]
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