We're Back from Italy!
With full coverage of Monza World Superbike and World Ducati Week 2004 - a 10 day paid dream / work vacation for any sportbike enthusiast. We started off at the Monza World Superbike round on May 16th, then drive down to the Adriatic seaside town of Rimini for WDW2004 which was one of the world's biggest and best bike manufacturer produced enthusiast events ever!

We spent the week based at the seaside town of Rimini next to the Misano Grand Prix track, taking the Ducati DRE Advanced Racing School on the 999 Superbike with instructor and former World Champion Marco Luchinelli, tackling the twisting mountains roads of Tuscany on the Multistrada, taking an exclusive tour of the Ducati factory Corse Race Shop, plus the factory and museum, partying until the week hours of the morning with thousands of other Ducati enthusiasts, and being there for the announcement of Ducati's new 4-cylinder Desmodecici 240hp Superbike! Join us in the next few weeks as the complete story unfolds.... - Jimmy "The Greek" Gianatsis, Editor

The WDW2004 Paddock Midway at Misano featured a huge Stage (middle rear) with a back wall big screen TV showcasing the stage shows, presentations and nightly concerts by top bands and recording stars. Also shown are the tents for riding seminars, venders, autograoh sessions with the Ducati Corse riders Loris Capirossi, Troy Bayliss, Ruben Xaus. Plus the Ducati Performance Parts and Apparel stores, dyno tuning and repair services for your bike, full restaurant services, a swimming pool, free massage therapy, free track riding/racing session if you brought your bike and leathers, new bike demo riders, pit walks inside the Corse World Superbike and MotoGP Teams pits with their race bikes and riders and engineers, free bike wash by bikini clad models, sand court vollyball with cheerleaders, stunt rider show, custom bike contest, military attack hilicopter exhibitions, cross-country bike tours, and a suprise free dinner on the tracks starting line on Saturday night, and a gift bag with commerative WDW2004 T-Shirt and Pin all as part of the 1-week Euro $90 or $50 weekend ticket price.

WORLD DUCATI WEEK 2004: IT’S A RECORD!
Ducati throws a party and does it right with
over 45,000 Total Week Attendance at the Misano GP Circuit for WDW 2004
Misano, Italy, May 17-23rd: World Ducati Week, the international meeting of the Ducati community, established another record with the recently concluded fourth edition. The event was a fantastic success in every way and attracted, entertained and thrilled tens of thousands of motorcyclists who flocked to the beautiful seaside Misano Adriatico GP Trackin Italy from the four corners of the Earth between Monday 17th and Sunday 23rd of May to prove their passion for the Ducati Legend, its motorcycles, people and lifestyle..

More than just a consuming passion, the Ducati passion is one that pulls in numbers too. Attendance was estimated at over 45,000. 19,000 tickets were sold, and nearly half of these were weekly passes, purchased by those (countless) individuals who could not think of missing even one of the events that Ducati organised for its fans to animate this great international event that inspires the entire motorcycling community.
The seven super-intense days reached their peak on Saturday 22nd May, when the largest number of Ducati enthusiasts, estimated at around 13,000, was recorded. This colourful invasion of Misano Adriatico’s Santa Monica race-track provided an unmistakable sound track of Ducatis to complete an exceptional motorcycling event.

Ducati.com also made a major contribution to the success of the event by managing the website dedicated to WDW2004 and providing an incredible amount of information before, during and after the meeting, exponentially increasing the event’s exposure to the many members of the Ducati public who for one reason or another were unable to take part directly. Thanks to Ducati.com these fans were at least able to take part virtually. The figures speak for themselves: during the week from 17th to 23rd of May more than 350.000 visits were made to the WDW2004 website!

Of the many activities organised for participants at WDW 2004, those promoted by the Ducati website proved a particular success. The top scorer was the “I WAS THERE. WERE YOU?” event that attracted hundreds of enthusiasts during the WDW weekend (21st-23rd May). Ducati.com staff took snaps of the people or situations they considered interesting. The resulting photos were published (starting from the 26th May) on the www.wdw2004.com web site. All those immortalised in this way and all others who simply want to keep a memento of this unforgettable experience, can download the shots they want, vote for their favourites, send e-cards with their own photo or even, thanks to sterling cooperation by E-shirt, order a print of their chosen photo on their selected T-shirt design. More than 1,300 images are available. In the first 30 minutes of going online were recorded approximately 35,000 visits.

And let’s not forget the Ducati Garage Challenge, the competition to find the best special that began before WDW with the selection of the 30 best bikes from those entered on the Challenge site. It continued at Misano, leading up to the announcement of the three category winners and their prizes, including awards from the official Ducati team riders.

But what firmly placed this fourth edition of WDW in the annals of history was the announcement made by the CEO of Ducati Motor Holding, Federico Minoli. On Saturday evening Minoli personally announced the official birth of the Desmosedici Racing Replica engine to the Ducati world. The announcement was the official beginning of the road-going Desmosedici development process. This limited edition machine is destined for a lucky few Ducati enthusiasts who will enjoy the maximum expression of Ducati Racing technology as well as the unique professional competence of Borgo Panigale’s R&D department. Another two years will have to pass before the first machine becomes available, so all you can do for the moment is book one and wait for WDW2006 when the very first bikes will be handed over on the very same stage from which the announcement was made this time around.

“This has been the best, most entertaining and most successful WDW in our history,” commented Minoli at the end of the spectacular parade of thousands of motorcycles from Misano to Rimini. “The level of involvement has been tremendous, and the participants have been the event’s real protagonists. The Ducati tribe has again shown its passion for motorcycling and for the legendary Ducati name. We are a great family, united and strengthened by our passion for riding. It’s a pity we’ll have to wait two years before the next WDW, but we’ll start organising it tomorrow! Let’s hope we can put together another week just as great, just as entertaining and just as passionate as this one. I’ll see you all at WDW2006!”

More WDW2004 Complete Coverage and Photos HERE

Claudio and Ruben get down to the real nitty gritty
Where else but at World Ducati Week can you attend Ducati University and have Team Ducati Corse Director Claudio Domenicali (above left) explain the intimate design details of the Desmosedici MotoGP bike, or have World Championship rider Ruben Xaus (above right) explain the intricaticies of the Misano race track before you go out and ride it.

So Claudio, why isn't the Ducati MotoGP bike a front runner this year, like last, we asked.? "We designed an all new chassis and engine this season which is much better then last year's bike. But we really didn't have much time to test the new bike's setup before the racing season began, and what threw everything off was the changes to smaller 16.5 inch tires and wheels. Last week we tested all day with Loris and Troy at LeMans and really got the bike dialed in where it should be. Troy matched the track lap record easily and said 'I wish I had this bike setup for the start of the season'. We expect to see much better results beginning at the next race."

For the complete exciting WDW2004 story and photos go HERE!

Left to right: Claudio Domenicali, Frederico Minoli and Gianluigi Mengoli announce the Desmosedici Racing Replica on stage to fans at World Ducati Week on Saturday night.

Ducati Desmosedici Racing Replica
announced for production at World Ducati Week
Misano Adriatico (RN) 22 May 2004: Just as we predicted here in Pit Lane News 2 weeks ago, Ducati used the showcase of World Ducati Week 2004 (their the giant bi-annual meeting of Ducati fans from around the world), in a fitting culmination of a week of events, sport, entertainment and, above all, motorcycles to announce: Ducati has launched the Desmosedici Racing Replica development project! The red Borgo Panigale, the Italian MotoGP bike which has fascinated fans from around the world, will soon be available!

The announcement gives the official go-ahead for the project, which will make the motorcycle available within two years. This is naturally a limited edition, as is right for a product conceived as the first true MotoGP replica. The new frontier of Ducati's technological evolution, embodies all the fundamental features of the motorcycle competing in the MotoGP World Championship, ridden by Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi. The Desmosedici RR is another confirmation of Ducati's vision, as well as the company's ability to transfer their experience of the world of racing to a bike intended for the road.

Federico Minoli (President and Managing Director, Ducati Motor Holding) called Gianluigi Mengoli (Technical Director, DMH) and Claudio Domenicali (Managing Director, Ducati Race Division) to the stage to represent the two technological centres of the company. Together they are the driving forces behind this exceptional project. Together with Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi the Desmosedici RR engine was presented to the public for the very first time, as the heart of this jewel in the crown of Ducati technology, which was received with unbridled enthusiasm by the public.

"An important occasion, a historical announcement, yet another dream come true. The Desmosedici RR is the maximum that Ducati technology has to offer, in line with the tradition embodied by every motorcycle we produce: from race to road bikes." Federico Minoli said from the stage. " We are pleased to face such a challenge which, even if only in a limited number of bikes, will be the dream of all Ducati fans. An exclusive motorcycle which stands for the passion and ingenuity which are the heart of our company's identity. Naturally the two cylinder engine is, and will always be, the Ducati engine par excellence, destined to be the hallmark of all our products, our past and our future.

"Today we are launching an ambitious, important project: it will be two years before the Desmosedici RR will be available, but we wanted to celebrate this historic occasion with all of you. We look forward then to WDW 2006, where we will deliver the very first Desmosedici RR right here, on this very stage, at another great Ducati festival, an event we can all share and enjoy together."

The engine of the Desmosedici RR will feature Ducati's traditional desmodromic timing ensures rigorous valve lift parameters up to the highest engine speeds, and is the perfect match for the modern architecture of the four cylinders in L-layout, resulting in a masterpiece of precision mechanics; with 989 cc total displacement and four valves per cylinder, the Desmosedici RR engine will certainly be a new benchmark for the international motorcycle industry.

The technology used is at the cutting edge of modern production, a methodology which up to the present time was only available for race bikes. The cam shafts (two per cylinder bank) are driven by gears: a sophisticated, reliable solution which ensures maximally precise timing in all conditions.

The fidelity of the replica does not finish here: the dimensions are exactly the same as those of the MotoGP, as is the six-speed gearbox, which maintains its racing design and can be removed as a single unit.
The lightweight and durability targets have led not only to optimisation of the design of the components, but also to the use of the most prestigious and exclusive materials: sand-cast aluminium alloy crankcase and cylinder heads, titanium con-rods and valves, plus magnesium engine covers.

The engine is the heart of this fantastic motorcycle, but the chassis components are of no less high quality and incorporate the most advanced solutions, with the characteristic steel tubing trellisframe and the most refined componentry, all covered with an exceptional carbon fibre fairing whose aerodynamics were designed by Alan Jenkins, who was also responsible for the design of the Desmosedici MotoGP. The replica bike's final shapes has not yet been decided, but it only natural to assume that it will follow the lines, and technical and aerodynamic solutions of the racing version.

The production of this jewel of a bike will be equally exclusive: Ducati intends to limit production to no more than one bike per day, assembled with the fanatical attention to detail and extraordinary skills of the race division. The project schedule has been defined and the first bikes will be available from Spring 2006. The Ducati Desmosedici RR will have a sale price of around 50,000 Euro ($60,000 US). Owners of the 999R will have priority in reserving the new bike. More information will be available on the official Ducati.com website starting from next July 1, 2004.

Frederico told us the Desmosedici was being put into production because. " Ducati always races what it sells." But production of the Desmosedici would also homologate it for racing in World Superbike in 2006 should Ducati need to counter attack any high horsepower return to the class by the Japanese manufacturers with a production MotoGP based superbike of their own. But for the present Ducati intends to stay with their proven V-Twin Testastretta engined 999 Superbike

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AMA Superbike Chammpionship. Round 5

Eric Bostrom scores his 4th consecutive Pikes Peak Win,
and Ducati's first AMA National Superbike Win of the Season
Fountain (Colorado) - Sunday May 23, 2004: Parts Unlimited Ducati Austinís Eric Bostrom rode his Ducati 999 to a superb win in the AMA Superbike race at Pikes Peak today, emerging victorious after fighting off challenges from runner-up Jake Zemke (Honda) throughout the grueling 48-lap battle. Eric led every lap of the race after taking the lead in turn two of the opening lap.

The 27-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada qualified seventh but overnight changes to his Ducati 999R helped him win his 12th career AMA Superbike victory, and the first for Ducati in AMA competition since Ericís brother Ben won at Brainerd in 1999 on a Ducati 996.

"It's good for Ducati, Michelin and me to get our first win as a team" a jubilant Bostrom said after the race. "We've done a lot of hard work together and havenít gotten the win weíve wanted until today. We made some definite headway this weekend, getting better balance with the Ducati 999 that helped me push harder. The level of competition is so high in AMA Superbike right now ñ to win this race, one of the toughest we have on the tour, makes it feel even better."

Eric immediately broke to the front of the pack from his second-row starting position and gradually increased his lead lap after lap. By lap 14 Eric had opened up a gap of just over three seconds and seemed headed for an easy fifth win at the 1.3 mile track when Zemke, who had broken free from a battle with series points leader Mat Mladin (Suzuki), chased down the Ducati until the gap was a mere .104 seconds with 17 laps still remaining.

"Everything was great from the start. I was building a gap by a couple tenths on every lap and I thought that if I could keep it up I'd get my first win without any drama,î explained Eric. ìBut then Jake started chipping away at my lead even though I was turning good lap times.î In spite of the continued pressure, Eric kept his focus and slowly rebuilt his lead, eventually winning the race with a 1.135 second margin of victory.
Racing Manager Tom Bodenbach was pleased with the entire teamís effort. ìEric had some changes he wanted us to make last night and the guys stayed late to get it done. He liked the bike better this morning in practice and his lap times really came down to the level where we felt he would be competitive in the race. Eric rode with a lot of heart today and it showed."

" I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a nail-biter" said team owner Terry Gregoricka."But it was a great race to watch and an even better one to win! Eric, Michelin, Ohlins and all the guys on our team. Everybody's done so much to get this win today."

Road America hosts round 6 (races 9 and 10) of the AMA Superbike Championship at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on June 4-6.
RACE: 1. E Bostrom (Ducati); 2. Zemke (Honda); 3. Yates (Suzuki); 4. Duhamel (Honda); 5. B Bostrom (Honda); 6. Mladin (Suzuki); etc.
POINTS: 1. Mladin 268; 2. Zemke 249; 3. Duhamel 245; 4. E Bostrom 184; 5. May 175; 6. Acree 156; etc.

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