2008 Ducati Desmosedici GP8

– 2008 Ducati Desmosedici GP8

2008 Ducati Desmosedici GP8

The Ducati Marlboro Team is ready to tackle a new season in the MotoGP World Championship
and sets out to defend the Rider, Constructor and Team titles won in 2007.

The challenging task of competing in the MotoGP World Championship for the 2008 season falls to the current MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner and the former 250cc World Champion Marco Melandri: two top riders who will compete in what the Ducati Marlboro Team envisage to be one of the most hard-fought seasons to date. Passionate, fast and tenacious, in the true spirit of Ducati, both riders contribute in their own way to making the Italian team true protagonists in the world of racing.

The Desmosedici GP8 is an evolution of the 2007 model. The Ducati engineers worked on all areas. In terms of chassis set-up, the new frame is lighter with optimised torsional and flexural rigidity and the rear suspension geometry is also different. As for the engine, they worked on two areas. First of all, performance: they introduced a number of modifications to minimise friction and obtain a small power increase without affecting fuel consumption. Secondly, they worked on driveability, in other words, engine response proportional to the rider’s torque requirements. This was done in order to obtain a ‘fuller’ engine response especially mid-range and to maintain peak power for longer.

Finally, with regards to electronics, modifications have been introduced regarding a few sensors and actuator details to increase reliability and, consequently, safety. One of the main reasons for Ducati’s participation in racing is to develop technology to be transferred to production bikes, improving safety and making them even more fun to ride. Electronics play an important role in all of this. An example of this is the new 1098 R, which is equipped with exactly the same traction control system used in Ducati racing bikes, making it the first bike in the world to feature a system able to combine safety with high performance.

2008 MOTOGP CALENDAR
Date Grand Prix Circuit Nation

09 March * Qatar Grand Prix Losail Qatar
30 March Spanish Grand Prix Jerez Spain
13 April Portuguese Grand Prix Estoril Portugal
4 May Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai China
18 May French Grand Prix Le Mans France
1 June Italian Grand Prix Mugello Italy
8 June Catalan Grand Prix Catalunya Spain
22 June British Grand Prix Donington Park Great Britain
28 June ** TT Assen Grand Prix Assen Netherlands
13 July German Grand Prix Sachsenring Germany
20 July *** USA Grand Prix Laguna Seca USA
17 August Czech Republic Brno Czech Republic
31 August San Marino Grand Prix Misano Italy
14 September Indianapolis Grand Prix Indianapolis USA
28 September Japanese Grand Prix Motegi Japan
5 October Australian Grand Prix Phillip Island Australia
19 October Malaysia Grand Prix Sepang Malaysia
26 October Comunità Valenciana Gran Prix Valencia Spain

* By night
** Saturday
*** Only MotoGP

CIRCUIT
Track length
MotoGP race distance
MotoGP race laps

LOSAIL
www.circuitlosail.com
5,380 km
118,360 km
22

JEREZ
www.circuitodejerez.com
4,423 km
119,421 km
27

ESTORIL
www.circuito-estoril.pt
4,182 km
117,096 km
28

SHANGHAI
www.icsh.sh.cn
5,281 km
116,182 km
22

LE MANS
www.gpfrancemoto.com
4,180 km
117,040 km
28

MUGELLO
www.mugellocircuit.it
5,245 km
120,635 km
23

CATALUNYA
www.circuitcat.com
4,727 km
118,175 km
25

DONINGTON PARK
www.donington-park.co.uk
4,023 km
120,690 km
30

ASSEN
www.tt-assen.com
4,555 km
118,430 km
26

SACHSENRING
www.sachsenring-circuit.com
3,671 km
110,139 km
30

LAGUNA SECA
www.laguna-seca.com
3,610 km
115,520 km
32

BRNO
www.brno-circuit.com
5,403 km
118,866 km
22

MISANO
www.misanocircuit.com
4,200 km
117,600 km
28

INDIANAPOLIS
www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com
4,216 km
118,048
28

TWIN RING MOTEGI
www.twinring.jp
4,801 km
115,224 km
24

PHILLIP ISLAND
www.grandprix.com.au
4,448 km
120,096 km
27

SEPANG
www.malaysiangp.com.my
5,548 km
116,508 km
21

VALENCIA
www.circuitvalencia.com
4,005 km
120,150 km
30

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM

Livio Suppo MotoGP Project Manager
Francesco Rapisarda Director of Communication
Federica De Zottis MotoGP Press Office
Maria Josè Garcia Press Officer
Paola Braiato Administration and Logistic
Amedeo Costa Team Coordinator
Luigi Mitolo Team Technical Coordinator Assistant
Mauro Grassilli Hospitality Manager
Davide Baraldini Warehouse and Components

Casey Stoner
Cristian Gabarrini Stoner Race Engineer
Gabriele Conti Electronics Engineer
Bruno Leoni Chief Mechanic
Roberto Clerici Mechanic
Giorgio Casturà Mechanic
Lorenzo Gagni Mechanic
Andrea Brunetti Mechanic

Marco Melandri
Cristhian Pupulin Melandri Race Engineer and Team Technical Coordinator
Marco Frigerio Electronics Engineer
Davide Manfredi Chief Mechanic
Massimo Mirano Mechanic
Michele Perugini Mechanic
Mark Elder Mechanic
Luciano Bertagna Mechanic

CASEY STONER

As a toddler Casey Stoner displayed a passion and talent for motorbike riding that was extraordinary, even by the standards of his bike-mad family. By the age of three he’d already graduated from pushing his older sister’s (Kelly) 50cc Peewee around the yard to taking his first ride on his own.

At four years of age Casey competed in his first race in the under 9s category at the Hatchers dirt racing track on the Gold Coast. By the age of six he had won his first Australia title. Many, many hours of riding, travelling and long nights working on bikes followed. Between the ages of 6 and 14 Casey raced all over Australia, travelling with his father (Colin), mother (Bronwyn) and sister (Kelly)

In that time Casey won 41 Australian dirt and long track titles and over 70 State titles, riding up to 5 bikes at a meeting in different capacity categories.

When he was twelve Casey raced the Australian Long Track Titles on the NSW Central Coast in 5 different categories with seven rounds in each capacity; a total of 35 races over the one weekend! He won 32 out of those 35 races and took five out of five Australian titles in the one meet.

Just after his 14th birthday Casey and his parents decided to make the move overseas and packed up and headed to England to start his road racing career. Casey could not legally road race in Australia until he was 16, but had decided he was ready for the challenge. So the decision was made to move to England where Casey was already of legal age to race. A big risk to take, but it paid off.

Casey was lucky enough and talented enough to attract immediate sponsorship after just one race in England. He went on to take out the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000, in his first year of road racing.

In that year he also raced two rounds of the Spanish 125cc Championship. It was there he was noticed by GP great Alberto Puig. Alberto was impressed by Casey’s determination and skill and invited him to race for the Telefonica Movistar Team in the 125cc Spanish Championships the next year.

In 2001 Casey raced in both the English and Spanish championships in the same year. Despite missing some English races due to clashes with Spanish rounds, he still managed to come second in both championships. In that same year he was also granted wildcard entries into the MotoGP 125cc world series, in both England and Australia. He placed 18th and 12th respectively and as a result was offered a ride in the Grand Prix world series the next year for the Safilo Oxydo LCR team.

Straight onto a 250cc machine in his rookie year, and at only 16 years of age, Casey demonstrated his ability and speed with results. His best result for the year was a 5th at Brno as well as several 6th place finishes.

In 2003 he went on to ride for Lucio and Safilo Oxydo LCR in the 125cc GP series and took four podium finishes and his first race win, in Valencia, at the end of the season. His first win in a GP race was a huge turning point for Casey and his career.

In 2004, at 18 years of age, Casey moved to KTM for a season where he helped to develop the team’s 125cc bike into a winning machine. That year he made it to the podium six times and took KTM’s first ever win in a GP class.

2005 saw Casey once again come back under the welcoming umbrella of Lucio Cecchinello’s team, this time riding an official 250cc Aprilia. He spent 2005 battling it out with Dani Pedrosa for the championship, visiting the podium ten times in the process and taking wins in Portugal, Shanghai, Qatar, Sepang, and Istanbul.

Finally in 2006, at twenty years of age, Casey accomplished his long held ambition of racing in MotoGP, the fastest and most prestigious of the classes. He set pole position in his second MotoGP race in Qatar and battled for the win until the final corner in the GP of Turkey, finishing runner-up just a fraction behind winner Melandri. Too many errors conditioned the second part of the year, but Casey, in finishing eighth overall in his rookie MotoGP season, demonstrated that he was in amongst the elite group, of which he is the youngest rider.

In 2007 Casey Stoner has joined the Ducati Marlboro Team alongside Loris Capirossi, with whom he has struck up a good friendship. In winter testing he has often been amongst the pacesetters and has proved to have rapidly adapted to the Desmosedici GP7 and Bridgestone tyres. On March 10, 2007, at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, Stoner won the first grand prix of the season, the first ever 800cc grand prix, and had his first win in the MotoGP class. After that the young Australian took other nine wins, four further podium finished and scored five pole positions. On September 23rd, in Japan, Stoner secured Ducati’s first MotoGP World Championship becoming the first rider in over 30 years to win the MotoGP title on a European made bike and the second youngest premier-class World Champion, after American legend Freddie Spencer who won his title in 1983, and at the time was 84 days younger than the 21 year old Stoner.

CASEY STONER DATA LOG

PERSONAL FILE
Born: October 16 1985 in Southport, Australia
Lives: Monaco
Marital status: married to Adriana
Height: 170cm
Weight: 58kg
Off-track interests: cycling, snorkelling, videogames

RACE CAREER

Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP8
GP starts: 95 (34xMotoGP, 31×250, 30×125)
GP victories: 17 (10xMotoGP, 5×250, 2×125)
First GP victory: Valencia, 2003 (125)
First GP: Britain, 2001 (125)
Pole positions:10, (6 x MotoGP 2×250, 2×125)
First pole: Italy, 2003 (125)
World Title: 1 – MotoGP 2007

2008: Ducati Marlboro Team rider – MotoGP World Championship
Machine: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP8

2007: MotoGP World Champion (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP7)
2006: 8th MotoGP World Championship (Honda)
2005: 2nd 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
2004: 5th 125 World Championship (KTM)
2003: 8th 125 World Championship (Aprilia)
2002: 12th MotoGP World Championship (Honda)
2001: 2nd 125 British Championship (Honda)
2nd 125 Spanish Championship (Honda)
2000: 125 Aprilia Challenge UK Champion (Aprilia)
1989-1999 winner of 41 Australian dirt track and long track titles

MARCO MELANDRI BIOGRAPHY

Italian hero Marco Melandri started racing minibikes at the age of eight, riding a machine given to him by his father who was a keen racer on the Italian national scene. Melandri made his GP debut seven years later at the 1997 Czech GP, just a few days after his 15th birthday. And ten months after his World Championship debut he won his first GP victory, at Assen, aged 15 years and 324 days. The man from Ravenna is still the youngest GP victor in motorcycle racing history.

Since then Melandri has gone on to conquer the 250 World Championship and become one of MotoGP’s most successful riders. During the past three seasons he has always finished inside the championship top five and has won five MotoGP races, taking his GP total to 22 victories. One of the toughest riders on the grid, Melandri is a quiet man who prefers to let his riding to the talking.

Melandri came close to winning his first World Championship crown in 1999, when he was just one point away from winning the 125 title. He graduated to 250s the following season and went on to win the 250 crown in 2002, scoring no less than nine GP wins that season, including an amazing run of six consecutive victories. Melandri didn’t hang around in 250s after taking the title, preferring to move up to MotoGP in 2003. He had a tough first two seasons in the premier class, riding Yamaha machinery, though he did show real promise in scoring his first front-row starts and podium finishes in the category. Melandri’s fortunes changed dramatically when he moved to Honda in 2005. He won his first two MotoGP victories that summer – at Istanbul and Valencia – and went on to finish an impressive second overall.

Throughout 2006 Melandri consolidated his status as one of MotoGP’s greatest talents, winning three more races – at Istanbul, Le Mans and Phillip Island – and revealing a remarkable ability to bounce back from injury and ill fortune. His 2006 season was marred by his involvement in a horrific turn-one accident at the Catalan GP, nonetheless he went on to finish fourth overall, just one point off third place. Melandri’s steely resolve is already legendary in a sport that has always demanded awesome physical and mental strength.

Last season Melandri began MotoGP’s new 800cc era still with Honda but using Bridgestone tyres for the first time. He scored two second-place finishes and one third to end the year fifth overall, ready for his new challenge with Italian marque Ducati.

Melandri is one of MotoGP’s most popular stars and he also enjoys some fame away from the racetracks as a DJ. Melandri has worked the decks since he was a teenager and plays house and hip hop. He currently lives near Derby in the United Kingdom.

Marco Melandri data log
Age: 25 (born 7 August 1982 in Ravenna, Italy)
Lives: Derby, UK
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP8
GP starts: 155 (79xMotoGP, 47×250, 29 x 125)
GP victories: 22 (5xMotoGP, 10×250, 7×125)
First GP victory: Netherlands, 1998 (125)
First GP: Czech Republic, 1997 (125)
Pole positions: 9 (6×250, 3×125)
First pole: Germany, 1998 (125)
World Championships 1 (250, 2002)

Career

2008: Ducati Marlboro Team Rider – MotoGP World Championship
Bike: Ducati Desmosedici GP8

2007 5th MotoGP World Championship (Honda)
2006 4th MotoGP World Championship (Honda)
2005 2nd MotoGP World Championship (Honda)
2004 12th MotoGP World Championship (Yamaha)
2003 15th MotoGP World Championship (Yamaha)
2002 250 World Champion (Aprilia)
2001 3rd 250 world championship (Aprilia)
2000 5th 250 world championship (Aprilia)
1999 2nd 125 world championship (Honda)
1998 3rd 125 world championship (Honda)
1997 Italian 125 champion (Honda)
1994 Italian minimoto champion
1992 Italian minimoto champion

VITTORIANO GUARESCHI DATALOG

PERSONAL FILE
Born: 19 June, 1971 in Parma, Italy
Lives: Parma
Age: 31
Marital status: married to Laura, one son (Federico)
Height: 175cm
Weight: 69kg
Hobbies: snowboard, karting, motocross

RACE FILE
First race: 1988, Italian 125cc Sport Production
First Superbike race: 1999
First Supersport race: 1997
Supersport podiums: 10
Supersport wins: 4
Fastest laps: 4
Supersport pole positions: 6

2008 Ducati Corse official test rider

2007 Ducati Corse official test rider
2006 Ducati Corse official test rider
2005 Ducati Corse official test rider
2004 Ducati Corse official test rider
+ World Supersport Championship
2003 Ducati Corse official test rider
2002 Ducati Corse official test rider
2001 World Supersport Championship (Ducati)
2000 20th World Superbike Championship (Yamaha)
1999 10th World Superbike Championship (Yamaha)
1998 2nd Supersport World Series (Yamaha)
1997 2nd Supersport World Series (Yamaha)
1996 5th Supersport World Series (Yamaha)
1995 Italian Supermono Champion (Yamaha)
4th Italian 600 Sport Production (Yamaha)
1994 Italian 125 Sport Production (Aprilia)
1993 3rd Italian 125 Sport Production (Cagiva)
1992 2nd Italian 125 Sport Production (Honda)
5th Italian 600 Sport Production (Honda)
1991 2nd Italian 125 Sport Production (Honda)
1990 3rd Italian 125 Sport Production (Honda)
1989 Italian 125 Sport Production (Aprilia)
1988 First race, Italian 125 Sport Production (Cagiva)

2008 Ducati Desmosedici GP8 Specifications:

Engine: liquid-cooled, 90 degree V4 four-stroke, desmodromic DOHC, four valves per cylinder.

Capacity: 799cc

Maximum power: more than 200hp

Maximum speed: in excess of 310 kph/192 mph

Transmission: Six-speed cassette-type gearbox, with alternative gear ratios available. Dry multiplate slipper clutch. Chain final drive.

Carburation: Indirect Magneti Marelli electronic injection, four throttle bodies with injectors above butterfly valves.
Throttles operated by EVO TCF (Throttle Control & Feedback) system.

Fuel: Shell Racing V-Power

Lubricant: Shell Advance Ultra 4

Ignition: Magneti Marelli

Exhaust: Termignoni

Frame: Tubular steel trellis-style chassis, pressed aluminium swing-arm.

Suspension: Öhlins upside-down 42mm front forks and Öhlins rear shock absorber, adjustable for preload, compression and rebound damping.

Tyres: Bridgestone 16.5″ front and rear

Brakes: Brembo, two 320mm carbon front discs with four-piston callipers. Single stainless steel rear disc with two-piston callipers.

Dry weight: 148kg

Specifications and features are subject to change

DUCATI RACING HISTORY

Founded by brothers Adriano, Bruno and Marcello Cavalieri Ducati in July 1926, Ducati first made its name producing radio transmitters. By the start of World War Two the company employed 7000 employees and had expanded its range of products to include electric razors, intercoms, calculating machines, cameras and movie cameras. In 1946, as Italy tried to get back on the road after the war, Ducati was commencing the manufacture of its first engine – the Cucciolo (Italian for ‘puppy’) four-stroke moped motor, used to power bicycles.

1950 – 50cc Cucciolo establishes 12 speed records.

1951 – 100cc Cucciolo establishes 24-hour speed and endurance records.

1954 – Ducati’s most renowned engineer, Fabio Taglioni, starts work with the factory.

1956 – Taglioni-designed desmodromic 125 single wins non-championship Swedish GP with Gianni Degli Antoni. With the same bike, Alessandro Artusi scores Ducati’s first World Championship points with fifth place at the Nations GP at Monza, putting him 16th in the World Championship.

1958 – Ducati’s first GP victory (125cc). Alberto Gandossi wins the 125 Belgium GP at Spa-Francorhamps on July 6th 1958. Gandossi and Bruno Spaggiari win two further GPs to take second place in the 125 riders’ and manufacturers’ World Championships.

1960 – Mike ‘The Bike’ Hailwood scores Ducati’s first 250 World Championship points, riding an inline 250 desmo twin.

1965 – Taglioni designs inline non-desmo four-cylinder 125, but the bike is never raced.

1971 – Ducati’s first premier-class GP racer and first V-twin takes to the tracks. Briton Phil Read scores the 500 GP’s first World Championship points at Monza.

1972 – Ducati scores its most famous early success when Paul Smart rides a GT750 desmo V-twin to victory in the Imola 200.

1973 – Ducati 860 desmo V-twin wins the Barcelona 24 Hours with riders Benjamin Grau and Salvador Canellas.

1978 – Former World Champion Mike Hailwood wins fairytale Isle Man TT comeback aboard a 900SS F1 special, securing Ducati’s first World Championship crown. In the States, future World Champion Freddie Spencer rides a 900SS to third in the Daytona 200.

1981 – Ducati scores the first of four successive Formula 2 World Championships, with Tony Rutter riding a 600cc Pantah TT2.

1987 – Former 500 World Champion Marco Lucchinelli scores the first success of Ducati’s new era, riding the all-new eight-valve V-twin 851 to victory in the Daytona Battle of the Twins. This bike, with Massimo Bordi-designed engine, is the forerunner of the legendary 916.

1988 – Lucchinelli and the 851 win the first round of the inaugural World Superbike Championship at Donington Park, finishing the season fifth overall.

1990 – Raymond Roche takes Ducati’s first World Superbike crown aboard the 134 horsepower Ducati 888. American Doug Polen continues the factory’s domination of the series with victory in the ’91 and ’92 championships. The following year Polen scores Ducati’s first US Superbike title success.

1994 – Ducati unleashes the 916 that wins the Superbike title at its first attempt, with Carl Fogarty. The Briton repeats the feat the following year, with Troy Corser securing a title hat-trick for Ducati in 1996.

1998 – Fogarty takes his third Superbike title aboard the 996 and backs it up with a fourth crown in 1999, the year in which all factory racing activities were incorporated in Ducati Corse under one roof.

2001 – Australian Troy Bayliss secures the marque’s ninth World Superbike riders’ crown with the 996 Testastretta. In May Ducati announces its decision to participate in the new MotoGP World Championship.

2002 – Bayliss leads the World Superbike Championship, finishing the year a close second, before starting testing of the Desmosedici MotoGP bike, alongside new team-mate Loris Capirossi. The V4 makes its public debut at November’s season-ending Valencia MotoGP event, and breaks its first lap record the following month at Jerez, Spain.

2003 – Capirossi and Bayliss have a sensational debut season with the Desmosedici, the Italian finishing on the podium in the bike’s first race and taking its debut victory at the Catalan GP. Ducati takes second in the constructors’, Loris and Troy finish fourth and sixth in the riders’ series. Hodgson dominates World Superbike with the all-new 999 to take the riders’ title and, together with Xaus, clinch Ducati’s 12th manufacturers’ crown.

2004 – 24 year-old James Toseland becomes the youngest ever World Superbike champion as he powers the 999 to its second successive title success. Team-mate Régis Laconi finishes runner-up to ensure Ducati’s 13th manufacturers’ title. Youngster Lorenzo Lanzi campaigns a 749 in Ducati’s return to World Supersport, finishing a creditable fifth overall. Capirossi and Bayliss complete a difficult MotoGP season on a high note by taking podium finishes, thus demonstrating the worth of the Desmosedici MotoGP project.

2005 – Capirossi campaigns the Desmosedici for a third successive year, scoring spectacular back-to-back wins in the latter half of the season. Team-mate Carlos Checa scores two podiums towards the end of the year. Toseland and Laconi win races in the World Superbike Championship but are unable to challenge for the title, while a new star is born in Italian Lorenzo Lanzi, who takes a third factory 999 to two wins in the final races of the season. Ducati Corse is also officially involved on a third front, the Italian manufacturer making a major effort to win the American AMA Superbike title with Hodgson and Eric Bostrom.

2006 – Capirossi again spearheads Ducati’s attack in one of the most exciting MotoGP championships in history. The Italian wins three races and takes eight podiums to finish his best season with the Italian factory in third overall. It is a difficult year for team-mate Sete Gibernau who triggers a spectacular crash at the start of the Catalan GP which spoils his season. Bayliss returns to World Superbike with Ducati Corse and caps a superb year by winning his second world title, five years on from his 2001 victory. The 37-year-old Australian goes on to write another remarkable chapter in Ducati’s history by winning the final round of the MotoGP championship at Valencia after being called in to replace injured Gibernau.

2007 – Ducati’s first MotoGP World Titles. Capirossi is joined by new team-mate Casey Stoner who dominates the inaugural 800cc MotoGP campaign, winning first time out on the new Desmosedici GP7. After that the young Australian took other nine wins, four further podium finished and scored five pole positions. On September 23rd, in Japan, Capirossi won his first race of the season and Stoner secured Ducati’s first MotoGP World Championship becoming the second youngest premier-class World Champion, after American legend Freddie Spencer. Two weeks later the stunning one-two scored by Stoner and Capirossi at Phillip Island, secured the constructors’ World Championship for the Borgo-Panigale-based squad, the first non-Japanese manufacturer to win the premier-class constructors’ title since 1973, when MV Agusta were champions. After the end of the 2007 Championship 25 year old Italian Melandri has joined the Australian in the Ducati Marlboro Team. Team Ducati Xerox riders Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi competed in the World Superbike championship to finish the season fourth and seventh respectively, with a string of podium places for Bayliss. There was also victory for Ducati Xerox Junior Team rider Niccolò Canepa who with six podium finishes took the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup title.

DUCATI NUMBERS

– Ducati Corse employs 115 people in the MotoGP Dept.

– The Desmosedici GP8 has 40 sensors collecting data; in total 241 channels are acquired.
– Data is downloaded directly from the electronic management system when the bike enters the pit garage because track-to-pit communication is forbidden by the rules.

– 60 D16 engines are assembled in Ducati Corse every year (170 in total, considering revisions).

– Every year 800 hours of electronics testing are carried out on the track and 350 hours on the dyno.

– More then 1,000 different components are used to build a D16 bike.

– 40,000 litres of Shell Racing V-Power fuel are used per year for the entire Desmosedici project (Development and Factory Team).

– 4,000 litres of Shell Advance Oil are used per year for the entire Desmosedici project (Development and Factory Team).

– 20 CAD CAE Software are used for design and analysis.

– 24 HP with AMD processors CAD workstations are used for design.

– Approximately 750 Bridgestone rear tyres have been used by the Ducati Marlboro Team in the 2007 season (for both riders).

– Approximately 50 wheels have been used by the Ducati Marlboro Team in 2007 (for both riders).

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM
2008 CO-SPONSORS

OFFICIAL SPONSORS
Alice/Telecom Italia, telecommunications and Internet
Shell Advance, fuels & lubricants
SanDisk, flash memory & portable devices (mp3, usb)
Bridgestone, tires
Enel, electricity
Riello UPS, generators

OFFICIAL PARTNERS
Alfa Romeo, cars
AMD, computer processors
Breil, watches
Datacol, professional workshop products
DHL, express courier
Ditec, automatic entrances
Fiat Veicoli commerciali, Team support vehicles
Gatorade, sport drink
Guabello, high quality fabric
Lampo, zipper
Malaguti, paddock scooters
Prisco, Team socks
Puma, Team shoes
SAP, management sofware
Tumi, Team travel luggages

TECHNICAL PARTNERS
Brembo, braking systems
Capit, tires warmers
CHT, sprokets
CM Composit, carbon fibre processing
Digitec, dashboards
Gnutti, engine components
Magneti Marelli, data acquisition systems
NGK, spark plugs
Regina, chains
SKF, rolling bearings
Termignoni, exhaust systems
Usag, tools

TELECOM ITALIA’S “ALICE” RACES WITH DUCATI IN THE MOTO GP CHAMPIONSHIP

Once again in 2008, Telecom Italia’s high-speed internet brand Alice is taking to the race track with the official Team Ducati in the World MotoGP championship. The Alice brand, emblazoned on the Italian manufacturer’s bikes since 2004, is Ducati’s official sponsor until 2009. Telecom Italia has long been committed to a sport which not only has an illustrious tradition, it shares with telecommunications a competitive spirit, the thrill of a challenge, and ongoing technological innovation.

Alice is the brand name of Telecom Italia’s high-speed ADSL technology internet access line of products and services. The Alice family is a broad range of solutions that caters to customer needs via pay-per-use, flat- and semi-flat-rated packages. Alice has rolled out innovative bundles that combine telephone talktime with broadband access and Wi-Fi. One of Alice’s most recent products is Unica, a package that allows customers to make phone calls over both the fixed-line and mobile networks using dual mode technology via the special “Unico” handset, leveraging Alice Wi-Fi technology for the fixed-line network, and UMTS technology for the mobile network. Unica also offers websurfing and access to content from Alice Home TV.

Alice Home TV is Telecom Italia’s TV via ADSL service that brings over 200 channels and much, much more right into the home over the phone line using broadband technology. Alice Home TV offers live and on-demand content including films, entertainment shows, lifestyle and culture programming, current affairs, and kids’ TV. Every year Alice Home TV offers a video library of around 3,000 films from the world’s (and Italy’s) top studios, of which 500 are available every month on demand. Around 200 new movies and TV movies are available every month.

Rosso Alice, Telecom Italia’s broadband portal, is open to any websurfer regardless of their ADSL provider. Rosso Alice (www.rossoalice.it) specializes in the provision of for-payment live and on-demand content delivered to home PCs, including sport, movies, music and video games.

The http://adsl.alice.it/ site is the place to go to find out all about Alice’s wide range of services, and to locate the right solution for individual surfing needs and budgets.

Bridgestone Motorsport is a part of the global Bridgestone Corporation, which employs over 126,000 people worldwide and has offices, factories or continental headquarters in more than 150 countries. Established in 1931 by Shojiro Ishibashi, and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, Bridgestone Corporation is now the world’s largest manufacturer of rubber products and tyres for cars, motorcycles, trucks and buses.

Bridgestone’s involvement in global motorsport extends to both four and two-wheeled series with its participation as sole tyre supplier in Formula One, Indy Car, Champ Car and GP2 nicely complemented with its heightened role as tyre supplier in the fiercely competitive two-wheeled arena of MotoGP.

Since joining the MotoGP community back in 2002, Bridgestone’s technological development has gone from strength to strength with continued improvements year-on-year.

Since 2005, Bridgestone has been a proud tyre supplier to the Ducati Corse team and this alliance has resulted in some of the corporation’s biggest MotoGP successes.

Having taken a formidable six race wins together up to and including the 2006 season, a further 11 were added to that total in the dominant 2007 season in which new recruit Casey Stoner stormed to the riders’ title, the first for Ducati and the first for any rider on Bridgestone tyres, while the Ducati team itself topped the team’s and manufacturer’s tables.

Bridgestone is proud to extend its relationship with the Ducati Corse team into a fourth consecutive season, as both companies continue in their bid for further success, and to consolidate the tremendous achievements of the previous seasons.

Ducati and Enel announce their new agreement bringing the top Italian energy group to the MotoGP championship for the first time ever.

On the day before the official Ducati MotoGP Team launch, the Borgo Panigale manufacturers and Enel have officially entered into a new, top-level partnership agreement. The biggest electric company in Italy, and second listed utility company in Europe by installed capacity, has decided to link its trade mark and corporate image with Ducati, the 2007 MotoGP World Champions famous for their own winning ‘power’.

According to the two-year agreement, the Enel brand will feature on the Desmosedici GP bikes as well as the leathers and helmets of both Ducati MotoGP Team factory riders, the reigning World Champion Casey Stoner from Australia and Italian Marco Melandri, who makes his Ducati debut this year on the Italian four-cylinder machine.

“It is not just a sponsorship agreement,” commented Gabriele Del Torchio, CEO of Ducati Motor Holding. “Ours is a partnership between two major industrial concerns which – through their innovation, productivity and knowledge – typify Italian excellence and winning strength in sport and in business. This partnership, like all the other prestigious agreements that support us in the highly demanding MotoGP challenge, confirms the level of credibility achieved by our brand and professionalism. Enel will be not only our partner in MotoGP, but also our official energy supplier, therefore actually contributing to the growth and development of our company.

“The partnership between Enel and Ducati,” said Fulvio Conti, Enel Managing Director and CEO “brings together two companies that are examples of that virtuous Italian spirit acknowledged internationally. Ducati is a world-famous model enterprise. Enel is today a multinational company active in 21 countries, using international expansion as its main asset to become a European leader. Competitiveness, professionalism and innovation combined with loyalty and fair practice are values promoted by Enel over many years. Today, we share these values with a sport and a brand that are part of our national heritage. This is a partnership that goes beyond sporting competition, as starting from today, Enel is also the official energy supplier to Ducati. Hopefully, our combined efforts will help us achieve more and more important goals”.

The new partnership with Ducati is part of Enel commitment to sports. Enel, which already supports basketball, volleyball and football, now sponsors a motor sport for the first time and begins in style by supporting the World Champions of the highly prestigious MotoGP class.

RIELLO UPS and DUCATI CORSE: ITALIAN TECHNOLOGICAL DESIGN WORLDWIDE

RIELLO UPS and DUCATI CORSE have confirmed their sponsorship agreement for 2008. This alliance goes beyond a mere form of promotion. It involves commitment to research, technological advancement, sustained investments, capability, willpower, passion and great team work: indispensable values that characterise RIELLO UPS and DUCATI CORSE, two important Italian companies that are renowned and appreciated the world over.

The core of RIELLO UPS business is the design and manufacture of equipment for energy conversion in industrial and civil applications. The Verona-based company is the market leader in Italy and one of the leading international companies providing technological research, production, sale and technical support for its UPS systems, which ensure constant and uninterrupted power within Information Technology, banking, transportation, industrial, medical and large infrastructure applications.

The pursuit of quality, optimisation of resources and a strong focus on innovative technology combined with its reliable and consistent reputation, and experience put RIELLO UPS in a position to compete globally and meet the demands of an expanding market.

RIELLO UPS is also committed to the research and development of technologies for exploiting the main source of renewable and eco-sustainable energy, solar power, with the design and creation of photovoltaic energy conversion systems producing safe, clean power.

RIELLO UPS is not just a sponsor of DUCATI CORSE. The company also provides UPS systems to protect the sophisticated electronic control and communications equipment used by DUCATI CORSE during qualifying sessions and races. Here security and reliability are essential in order to equal the excellent results achieved in 2007.
The well-organised collaboration and sponsorship consolidated in 2008 will lead to greater visibility of the RIELLO UPS brand which will figure prominently on parts of the motorbikes of world champion Casey Stoner and his new team mate Marco Melandri.

RIELLO UPS and DUCATI CORSE: together and determined to meet the challenges of the future with the “right energy”.

SANDISK TEAMS UP ONCE AGAIN WITH DUCATI CORSE IN THE MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

For 2008, SanDisk is once again joining Ducati Corse to race in the World MotoGP championship. SanDisk continues it’s highly successful association with Ducati Corse, which began with the 2007 MotoGP season. SanDisk is committed to a sport which has many similar attributes to the SanDisk product range – those features are high performance products, advanced technology and critically unbeatable reliability.

SanDisk Extreme III and Extreme IV are the brand names of SanDisk’s two mainstream, high performance memory card products for the photographic market. The main feature of these cards is the ability to supply industry leading data transfer speeds in a wide variety of environmental conditions (from – 25 degrees C to +85 degrees C ). Both of these brands have an extensive history of awards, testimony to the appealing combination of high performance and oustanding reliability. These product features synchronise with the high performance and reliability required to be a World Championship winning motorsports team, such as Ducati.

SanDisk Extreme Ducati Edition is the latest addition to the SanDisk range of high performance, photographic memory cards. These cards offer the highest data transfer performance in the Extreme brand family. This limited edition range of cards has been designed to celebrate the partnership with Ducati Corse and to allow SanDisk’s customers to be part of the collaboration between SanDisk and Ducati. In addition to photographic cards, Sandisk has also created a Extreme Ducati Edition USB drive to allow PC users to show their appreciation for both Ducati Corse and SanDisk.

SanDisk offers a broad range of memory cards for mainstream photographic use, for use in mobile phones and for use in PDAs. The company offers a wide range of USB memory drives for transferring and storing data between PCs, and manufactures a range of personal audiovisual players under the Sansa brand.

Go to http://www.sandisk.com to find out all about SanDisk’s wide range of products.

SHELL RENEWS UNTIL 2011
2007 was a fantastic year for one of Shell’s most important technical partnerships. And 2008 has already got off to a good start for Shell and Ducati Corse with the signing of a contract extension at Wrooom, the pre-season press event. Now committed until the end of 2011, Shell has added the Shell V-Power performance fuel branding to the ‘Pecten’ already seen on the Desmosedici GP8 swing arm. Shell Advance motorcycle lubricant branding is still seen on the riders’ leathers.

Speaking at the signing of the new contract, Juan Carlos Perez, General Manager Global Sponsorships, Shell Brands International AG, said: “We are delighted to be signing the contract here today with Ducati. This technical partnership is extremely important to us and the development programmes we run. We are very proud of the technical achievements of this partnership as well as the fantastic results on the race track, culminating in Ducati’s first ever MotoGP World title in 2007. We are looking forward to much more success in the future as well as more technical innovation from this fantastic collaboration.”

Looking forwards to the exciting 2008 MotoGP season, the Shell scientists in Hamburg, Germany, will continue to develop even more purposeful blends of Shell V-Power racing fuel and Shell Advance racing lubricants to ensure that the Ducati Desmosedici GP8’s performance can increase as the year goes on.

The challenge in 2008 will be to maintain, and even increase, the rate of development. With both companies sharing a belief in the benefits that racing can provide to the consumers, the knowledge that Shell-V-Power for the road is developed with the experience gained from pushing the boundaries of MotoGP fuel development is fundamental to the future of the Ducati technical partnership. As is the understanding that Shell Advance can make that incremental difference to performance by reducing the amount of friction within the engine and gearbox of the racing bike, lap after lap, race after race.

Keeping the MotoGP silverware in Bologna will not be easy, but the talented people in the Borgo Panigale factory and the Shell scientists in Hamburg will be doing everything possible to defend that Championship honour.