Ducati Corse

Ducati Corse

Founded	1954
Headquarters	Bologna, Italy
Key people	General Manager: Luigi Dall'Igna Sporting Director: Paolo Ciabatti
Owner	Lamborghini
Parent	Ducati
Website	Ducati Corse

Ducati Corse is the racing team division 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 percent of the Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. workforce). Ducati Corse currently competes in MotoGP, the Superbike World Championship and other national championships. Between 1998 and 2004 the racing division existed as a subsidiary company named Ducati Corse S.r.l. and fully owned by Ducati Motor Holding. To date, Ducati has one MotoGP world championship for both rider and manufacturer, with Casey Stoner in 2007. In addition Ducati has won multiple Superbike world championships, with Carl Fogarty (four titles) and Troy Bayliss (three titles) being the most successful riders.

Organization

The company is split into four departments.

Technical research and development

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.

Sporting activities

The sporting activities department is responsible for the factory teams that take part in the MotoGP and Superbike championships.

Commercial activities

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.

Marketing and communication

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.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing (MotoGP)

Ducati MotoGP
2016 name	Ducati Team
Base	Bologna, Italy
Principal	Luigi dall'Igna, General Manager Paolo Ciabatti, Project Director
Rider(s)	4 Andrea Dovizioso 29 Andrea Iannone
Motorcycle	Ducati Desmosedici GP16
Tyres	Michelin
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 one title in the 2007 season. Ducati has collected 31 wins: 23 by Casey Stoner, 7 by Loris Capirossi and 1 by Troy Bayliss.

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.

2003

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.

2004

A large part of the 2004 season went by before the bike became competitive, but the season concluded with both riders on the podium.

2005

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

2006

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.

2007

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. 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.

2008

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.

2009

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.

2010

Once again Casey Stoner joins with Nicky Hayden for 2010 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season.

2011

On 9 July 2010, Casey Stoner announced that he would join Honda Racing Corporation for the 2011 season, after four years at Ducati.

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.

2012

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden remained with Ducati Corse for the 2012 season.

2013

Nicky Hayden remained with Ducati Corse for the 2013 season on a one-year contract. He was joined by Andrea Dovizioso.

2014

Andrea Dovizioso remained with Ducati for the 2014 season. He was joined by former team-mate Cal Crutchlow.

2015

Andrea Dovizioso remained with Ducati for the 2015 season with Andrea Iannone coming to the factory team from a Pramac Ducati. 2015 awaited the highly anticipated GP15, a full redesign of the Desmosedici by Gigi Dall'Igna which made its debut at the second February test in Sepang.

2016

Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone remained as the factory team riders for the 2016 season with the Desmo GP16, cited as being an evolution of the GP15. Perhaps the most notable change within Ducati Corse came with the arrival of Casey Stoner as the division's top test rider who immediately gelled with the Ducati in addition to Michele Pirro. Ducati has fielded a total of 8 bikes on the MotoGP circuit for 2016 between the factory team, Pramac Yakhnich team, Aspar Team, and Avintia Team.

In 2016, Ducati Corse signed five time world champion and reigning MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo to pilot the Ducati for 2017-2018. They have also retained Andrea Dovizioso.

Grand Prix motorcycle results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Season	Class	Team	Machine	No	Rider	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	R.C.	Points	M.C.	Points
2003	MotoGP	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati Desmosedici	12	Troy Bayliss	JPN 5	RSA 4	SPA 3	FRA Ret	ITA Ret	CAT 10	NED 9	GBR 5	GER 3	CZE 3	POR 6	RIO 10	PAC Ret	MAL 9	AUS Ret	VAL 7			6th	128	2nd	225
				65	Loris Capirossi	JPN 3	RSA Ret	SPA Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 2	CAT 1	NED 6	GBR 4	GER 4	CZE Ret	POR 3	RIO 6	PAC 8	MAL 6	AUS 2	VAL 3			4th	177
2004	MotoGP	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati Desmosedici	12	Troy Bayliss	RSA 14	SPA Ret	FRA 8	ITA 4	CAT Ret	NED Ret	RIO Ret	GER Ret	GBR 5	CZE Ret	POR 8	JPN Ret	QAT Ret	MAL 10	AUS 9	VAL 3			14th	71	3rd	169
				65	Loris Capirossi	RSA 6	SPA 12	FRA 10	ITA 8	CAT 10	NED 8	RIO 4	GER Ret	GBR 7	CZE 5	POR 7	JPN Ret	QAT Ret	MAL 6	AUS 3	VAL 9			9th	117
2005	MotoGP	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati Desmosedici	7	Carlos Checa	SPA 10	POR 5	CHN Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 5	CAT 11	NED 9	USA Ret	GBR 5	GER Ret	CZE 8	JPN 4	MAL 3	QAT 6	AUS 3	TUR 5	VAL 4		9th	138	3rd	202
				23	Shinichi Ito	ESP	POR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	USA	GBR	GER	CZE	JPN	MAL	QAT	AUS	TUR DSQ	VAL		NC	0
				65	Loris Capirossi	SPA 13	POR 9	CHN 12	FRA 7	ITA 3	CAT 12	NED 10	USA 10	GBR 6	GER 9	CZE 2	JPN 1	MAL 1	QAT 10	AUS	TUR	VAL 7		6th	157
2006	MotoGP	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati Desmosedici	12	Troy Bayliss	SPA	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	GBR	GER	USA	CZE	MAL	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL 1		19th	25	3rd	248
				15	Sete Gibernau	SPA Ret	QAT 4	TUR 11	CHN 9	FRA 8	ITA 5	CAT Ret	NED	GBR	GER 8	USA 10	CZE	MAL 5	AUS 4	JPN 4	POR Ret	VAL		13th	95
				65	Loris Capirossi	SPA 1	QAT 3	TUR 6	CHN 8	FRA 2	ITA 2	CAT Ret	NED 15	GBR 9	GER 5	USA 8	CZE 1	MAL 2	AUS 7	JPN 1	POR 12	VAL 2		3rd	229
				66	Alex Hofmann	SPA	QAT	TUR	CHN	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED 12	GBR 13	GER	USA	CZE 16	MAL	AUS	JPN	POR	VAL		17th	30
2007	MotoGP	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati Desmosedici	27	Casey Stoner	QAT 1	SPA 5	TUR 1	CHN 1	FRA 3	ITA 4	CAT 1	GBR 1	NED 2	GER 5	USA 1	CZE 1	RSM 1	POR 3	JPN 6	AUS 1	MAL 1	VAL 2	1st	367	1st	394
				65	Loris Capirossi	QAT Ret	SPA 12	TUR 3	CHN 6	FRA 8	ITA 7	CAT 6	GBR Ret	NED Ret	GER 2	USA Ret	CZE 6	RSM 5	POR 9	JPN 1	AUS 2	MAL 11	VAL 5	7th	166
2008	MotoGP	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati Desmosedici	1	Casey Stoner	QAT 1	SPA 11	POR 6	CHN 3	FRA 16	ITA 2	CAT 3	GBR 1	NED 1	GER 1	USA 2	CZE Ret	RSM Ret	IND 4	JPN 2	AUS 1	MAL 6	VAL 1	2nd	280	2nd	321
				33	Marco Melandri	QAT 11	SPA 12	POR 13	CHN 5	FRA 15	ITA Ret	CAT 11	GBR 16	NED 13	GER Ret	USA 16	CZE 7	RSM 9	IND 19	JPN 13	AUS 16	MAL 16	VAL 16	17th	51
2009	MotoGP	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati Desmosedici	27	Casey Stoner	QAT 1	JPN 4	SPA 3	FRA 5	ITA 1	CAT 3	NED 3	USA 4	GER 4	GBR 14	CZE	IND	RSM	POR 2	AUS 1	MAL 1	VAL DNS		4th	220	3rd	272
				36	Mika Kallio	QAT	JPN	SPA	FRA	ITA	CAT	NED	USA	GER	GBR	CZE Ret	IND 8	RSM 7	POR	AUS	MAL	VAL		20th	9
				69	Nicky Hayden	QAT 12	JPN Ret	SPA 15	FRA 12	ITA 12	CAT 10	NED 8	USA 5	GER 8	GBR 15	CZE 6	IND 3	RSM Ret	POR 8	AUS 15	MAL 5	VAL 5		13th	104
2010	MotoGP	Ducati Marlboro Team	Ducati Desmosedici	27	Casey Stoner	QAT Ret	SPA 5	FRA Ret	ITA 4	GBR 5	NED 3	CAT 3	GER 3	USA 2	CZE 3	IND Ret	RSM 5	ARA 1	JPN 1	MAL Ret	AUS 1	POR Ret	VAL 2	4th	225	3rd	286
				69	Nicky Hayden	QAT 4	SPA 4	FRA 4	ITA Ret	GBR 4	NED 7	CAT 8	GER 7	USA 5	CZE 6	IND 6	RSM Ret	ARA 3	JPN 12	MAL 6	AUS 4	POR 5	VAL Ret	7th	163
2011	MotoGP	Ducati Team	Ducati Desmosedici	46	Valentino Rossi	QAT 7	SPA 5	POR 5	FRA 3	CAT 5	GBR 6	NED 4	ITA 6	GER 9	USA 6	CZE 6	IND 10	RSM 7	ARA 10	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	MAL C	VAL Ret	7th	139	3rd	180
				69	Nicky Hayden	QAT 9	SPA 3	POR 9	FRA 7	CAT 8	GBR 4	NED 5	ITA 10	GER 8	USA 7	CZE 7	IND 14	RSM Ret	ARA 7	JPN 7	AUS 7	MAL C	VAL Ret	8th	132
2012	MotoGP	Ducati Team	Ducati Desmosedici	46	Valentino Rossi	QAT 10	SPA 9	POR 7	FRA 2	CAT 7	GBR 9	NED 13	GER 6	ITA 5	USA Ret	IND 7	CZE 7	RSM 2	ARA 8	JPN 7	MAL 5	AUS 7	VAL 10	6th	163	3rd	192
				69	Nicky Hayden	QAT 6	SPA 8	POR 11	FRA 6	CAT 9	GBR 7	NED 6	GER 10	ITA 7	USA 6	IND DNS	CZE	RSM 7	ARA Ret	JPN 8	MAL 4	AUS 8	VAL Ret	9th	122
2013	MotoGP	Ducati Team	Ducati Desmosedici	04	Andrea Dovizioso	QAT 7	AME 7	SPA 8	FRA 4	ITA 5	CAT 7	NED 10	GER 7	USA 9	IND 10	CZE 7	GBR Ret	RSM 8	ARA 8	MAL 8	AUS 9	JPN 10	VAL 9	8th	140	3rd	155
				69	Nicky Hayden	QAT 8	AME 9	SPA 7	FRA 5	ITA 6	CAT Ret	NED 11	GER 9	USA 8	IND 9	CZE 8	GBR 8	RSM 9	ARA 9	MAL Ret	AUS 7	JPN 9	VAL 8	9th	126
		Ducati Test Team		51	Michele Pirro	QAT	AME	SPA 11	FRA	ITA 7	CAT	NED	GER	USA	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM	ARA	MAL	AUS	JPN	VAL 10	13th	56
2014	MotoGP	Ducati Team	Ducati Desmosedici	04	Andrea Dovizioso	QAT 5	AME 3	ARG 9	SPA 5	FRA 8	ITA 6	CAT 8	NED 2	GER 8	IND 7	CZE 6	GBR 5	RSM 4	ARA Ret	JPN 5	AUS 4	MAL 8	VAL 4	5th	187	3rd	211
				35	Cal Crutchlow	QAT 6	AME Ret	ARG	SPA Ret	FRA 11	ITA Ret	CAT Ret	NED 9	GER 10	IND 8	CZE Ret	GBR 12	RSM 9	ARA 3	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL 5	13th	74
				51	Michele Pirro	QAT	AME	ARG 17																19th	18
		Ducati Test Team							SPA Ret	FRA	ITA 11	CAT 14	NED	GER	IND	CZE 12	GBR	RSM	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL 9
2015	MotoGP	Ducati Team	Ducati Desmosedici	04	Andrea Dovizioso	QAT 2	AME 2	ARG 2	SPA 9	FRA 3	ITA Ret	CAT Ret	NED 12	GER Ret	IND 9	CZE 6	GBR 3	RSM 8	ARA 5	JPN 5	AUS 13	MAL Ret	VAL 7	7th	162	3rd	256
				29	Andrea Iannone	QAT 3	AME 5	ARG 4	SPA 6	FRA 5	ITA 2	CAT 4	NED 4	GER 5	IND 5	CZE 4	GBR 8	RSM 7	ARA 4	JPN Ret	AUS 3	MAL Ret	VAL Ret	5th	188
				51	Michele Pirro	QAT	AME	ARG	SPA	FRA	ITA 8	CAT	NED	GER	IND	CZE	GBR	RSM Ret	ARA	JPN	AUS	MAL	VAL 12	21st	12

Superbike World Championship (SBK)

Ducati Superbike

2014 name	Ducati Superbike Team
Base	Bologna, Italy
Team principal/s	Ernesto Marinelli, Project Director Serafino Foti, Team Manager
Race riders	7 Chaz Davies 34 Davide Giugliano
Motorcycle	Ducati 1199 Panigale R
Tyres	Pirelli
Riders' Championships	works team: 11 1990 Raymond Roche 1992 Doug Polen 1994, 1995 Carl Fogarty 1998, 1999 Carl Fogarty 2001 Troy Bayliss 2003 Neil Hodgson 2004 James Toseland 2006, 2008 Troy Bayliss customer teams: 3 1991 Doug Polen 1996 Troy Corser 2011 Carlos Checa

Ducati has been taking part in the Superbike World Championship since it began in 1988 until 2010 and came back in 2014. Using V-twin engines Ducati was able to dominate the championship for many years. Ducati won its first riders' championship in 1990 with Raymond Roche. The 1991 title was won by Doug Polen riding for the customer team managed by Eraldo Ferracci. From 1994 to 1999 Carl Fogarty won the title 4 times on Ducatis. Australian Troy Corser won the 1996 title on a factory-spec Ducati fielded by Austrian team Promotor Racing. In 2001 Troy Bayliss won the first of his three titles.

In 2003, the rule changes in MotoGP allowing 4-stroke engines meant that the Japanese manufacturers had focused their resources there, leaving the Superbike World Championship with limited factory involvement. 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, while the team finished 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, raised the displacement limit for 2 cylinder engines to 1,200 cc. Bayliss won his third world championship and retired at the end of the 2008 season.

2009 saw Noriyuki Haga, who replaced Bayliss, partnered with Michel Fabrizio. Haga had a fantastic season on Ducati but lost the championship by 6 points; Haga ended the season as second while Fabrizio as third in overall championship standing.

Once again, 2010 began with Noriyuki Haga partnering with Michel Fabrizio 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 their participation to privateer teams running their works bikes.

During 2011-12 Ducati gave factory support to Althea Racing privateer team, winning the 2011 title with Carlos Checa. Having parted from Althea at the end of 2012, for 2013 Ducati supported Francis Batta's Alstare Racing team introducing the new 1199 Panigale R in the world championship.

On 15 November 2013, it was announced that Ducati will be joining back in SBK as Ducati Superbike Team.

For 2014 the returning factory team signed Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano.

External links

• Ducati Corse website