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With the opening round of the MotoGP world championship just around the corner, the Ducati Marlboro Team made some progress during the first half of a two-night pre-season test at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit.

2011 MotoGP

The year 2009 saw Valentino Rossi cross another milestone in his motorcycle racing career by winning his ninth MotoGP title, four with Yamaha and three with Honda in the premier class, as well as one with Aprilia in the 250 GP and yet another in the 125 GP.

MotoGP News

Ducati is delighted to announce that Shell Advance’s technical partnership has been extended until the end of the 2013 season.

The extended relationship will ensure the continued development of tailored Shell Advance lubricant and Shell V-Power fuel for the Desmosedici bikes of the Ducati Marlboro Team of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden.

Today the full complement of MotoGP riders roared back into action for the first time in 2010 at Sepang, after a first day exclusively available to test riders, who performed ‘shakedown’ sessions on their machines yesterday. It was a positive start for the two Ducati Marlboro Team riders, who were 2nd and 7th fastest respectively.

Stoner, who expressed his satisfaction with the new engine, was quickly on the pace and then focused on the set-up of his bike trying to solve a problem of chatter.

MotoGP Bike Unveiled

There was a packed schedule again on the second day of Wrooom 2010 at Madonna di Campiglio today, with Claudio Domenicali coming under the spotlight in this morning’s press conference.

Ducati MotoGP Team

Wrooom Press Ski Meeting 2010 has officially opened, a week that traditionally combines spectacle, sport and meetings with the international press in Madonna di Campiglios magnificent Dolomites. Events will get underway with press conferences with the two Ducati Marlboro Team riders, Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden.

On Wednesday 13th it will be the turn of Claudio Domenicali, General Manager of Ducati Motor Holding. Another key moment will be the official presentation of the Ducati Desmosedici GP 10.

The last race of the 2009 MotoGP season will also be the last race in Ducati Marlboro Team colours for Livio Suppo, Ducati’s MotoGP project manager. The Italian manager will leave Ducati to embark on a new professional adventure.

In Ducati since 1999, Suppo was involved in this challenging and ambitious project from the very beginning, contributing with his intuition, perseverance and enthusiasm to the world title victory of 2007 and to the many podiums and successes that have characterised the life of the Ducati Desmosedici from its debut in 2003 up until today.

The Ducati Marlboro Team heads down under this week to the Phillip Island circuit for Casey Stoner’s home race, the Australian Grand Prix. Both Stoner and his American team-mate Nicky Hayden are huge fans of the track, which overlooks the Bass Strait, because it is fast, flowing and technically demanding. Stoner has two victories to his name there in the MotoGP class whilst Hayden stood on the podium for the first time in his MotoGP career back in 2003 and has done so on two further occasions since.

The Ducati Marlboro Team returns from a long September break this weekend ready to tackle the Estoril circuit with Casey Stoner back in the saddle alongside his team-mate Nicky Hayden.

The Italian outfit has been working hard on two fronts since the end of July, on one hand liasing with doctors in Australia monitoring the progress being made by Casey and on the other continuing exhaustive development of the Desmosedici, on which Nicky has been able to make great strides, culminating with his podium finish at Indianapolis and further signs of competitiveness at Misano before a blameless first

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Nicky Hayden was cruelly sent tumbling out of the San Marino Grand Prix on the opening lap of a disastrous race at Misano after colliding with wayward local rider Alex de Angelis. Hayden had made a superb start from the second row of the grid and was ideally placed to maximise the optimum race pace he had shown in practice and warm-up.

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Nicky Hayden and Mika Kallio are confident of putting on a performance to delight the thousands of Ducatisti in the crowd at tomorrow’s San Marino Grand Prix after qualifying sixth and eleventh respectively in this afternoon’s qualifying session. Hayden was the second fastest rider on track in the first and final sections of the Misano circuit but, like yesterday, he struggled with the fast right-hander in T3.

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Mika Kallio and Nicky Hayden were satisfied with their day’s work following the opening free practice session for the San Marino Grand Prix today, having both continued their positive recent progress with the set-up of the Desmosedici GP9 machines. Kallio recovered his recent lost confidence in the front end of his bike to lap seventh fastest whilst Hayden, who signed a one-year extension to his deal with the team yesterday, was also inside the top ten despite being held up by a slower rider on his quickest lap.

MIKA KALLIO Speaks…