Take heed, the Ducati Monster Challenge will be taking place at the Long Beach International Motorcycle Show in two weekends.

If interested, apply, submit, get in contact with Ducati North America now, by clicking here. Good Luck.

Soup has a feature on Ducati's 999R Fila Replica edition - based on their 2004 World Superbike bike. The article features a list of features on this limited edition machine such as:

Full Fila/Ducati Corse WSBK graphics, preinstalled and clear-coated . . Carbon fiber side and upper fairing . . WSBK-inspired braced swingarm . . Deep-sump, short-stroke 999R engine with 146 hp . . Magnesium head covers and headlight support . . Ohlins front fork with radial calipers, Ohlins rear shock, and Ohlins steering damper . . Forged aluminum wheels

Pro Italia is offering this model as a special order with an MSRP of $24,995.
Contact Pro Italia sales for more information. We'd be happy to put you on one of these exquisite and rare machines.

The Soup article can be found here. Read, desire, call.

The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) has announced that Ducati will be the "Featured Marque" at AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days 2005, to be held July 15 - 17 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Roadracing World

Crash.net are reporting that they have word from "a respected member of the MotoGP paddock who has confirmed that 'Bridgestone are going to Ducati'"

Whoa.
Awaiting official word.


Ok, here is official word from Crash.net:

The Italian team has stated that Bridgestone's ever improving performance – which resulted in two race wins with Camel Honda's Makoto Tamada in 2004 – plus the opportunity to gain a potential advantage over their leading rivals were 'the underlying reasons behind this choice'.

We'll let you know if/when we have some Bridgestone stickers laying around.

Both Superbikeplanet and Crash.net are featuring an interview sesh with newly announced AMA Duati superbike rider Neil Hodgson. It is the same interview at either site.

It'll be a tall, tall order going after DuHamel and Mladin et. al, but somebody's gotta do it and we're glad EBoz ain't going it alone again!

Well, it is official. Soup is reporting that Ducati Corse has just announced that Neil Hodgson will be joining Ducati's AMA superbike effort this year, teaming up with Ducati Austin and Eric Bostrom.

The final piece in the jigsaw for Ducati Corse's Superbike plans comes with the announcement that Toseland's fellow Brit and 2003 WSBK champion, Neil Hodgson, will line up alongside Eric Bostrom in the Parts Unlimited Ducati Austin AMA Superbike team for next season.

This must be seen as good news what with Neil's familiarity with the 999. Now about learning about those strange new racetracks...

The same note from Corse mentions that their WSBK team of Toseland and Laconi will remain intact while Lanzi will be riding a 999RS in WSBK.
Superbikeplanet article is here.

A while back we reached a symbolic milestone and so a virtual doorprize was presented to online order number 999! Ted S. from Halethorpe Maryland (what looks to us like the greater Baltimore area) is pictured here with his sharp looking Ducati Monster and a token of our appreciation and his luck; a 1:12 scale model of a Ducati 999 'natch. Thanks to Ted and everyone for your support and enthusiasm of our online, and offline, shop.

(via Soup) The BBC's website has an article up in its motorsports section stating that the chances of Neil Hodgson racing for Ducati in AMA superbike is becoming increasingly likely.

"But it is looking more than likely I'll be doing AMA. That will be with the factory Ducati team."

Read the full article by clicking here.

Today's LA Times features and article by Dan Neil on the 999R. Registration is probably needed, but the article is here. We'll just post a snippet:

The fundamental ratio of performance machines is power to weight, usually expressed as pounds per horsepower. A Ferrari F430 with driver weighs about 3,300 pounds, a burden shared by its 490 horsepower, which the abacus tells us is about 6.7 pounds per horsepower. The Ducati 999R (dry weight of 398 pounds) weighs about 600 pounds with me on board, which means each of its 150 horsepower must move only 4 pounds.

It's hard for those who have not saddled a superbike to appreciate the sick, perverted violence of this equation. If you rev the 999R's engine to about 6,000 rpm, shift as much of your weight as possible over the front wheel, and gingerly slip the clutch for a couple hundred feet — and if you can hang onto it — the bike will accelerate from 0-60 mph in about 3 seconds. Your wits might take a bit longer to catch up.