This page is for all the race fans keeping tabs on Ducati winning everything this season.

We will add more links as and when they are found or recommended, so if you see something really good that is not here, please let us know. Please also see our general links page.

To see further links added, email details of the page you like to: racers@docgb.org

MotoGP Team

Stoner leaves Ducati GP team

The Valencia Grand Prix on November 7th 2010 will be the event that concludes four years of extraordinary collaboration between Ducati and Casey Stoner. An important relationship characterized by a strong reciprocal esteem and many victories, among which the first MotoGP World Title for both the Italian manufacturer and the Australian rider.

Stoner arrived in Ducati in 2007 and, riding the Desmosedici GP7 that was making its debut in the new 800cc category, he took his first victory in the very first race, embarking on a path that would lead to the world title later in that same year and many more successes during subsequent seasons.
Ducati would like to thank Casey Stoner, who has decided to undertake a new challenge, with gratitude and affection that will always remain.

"I would like to thank Casey on behalf of our fans and our sponsors, but most of all on behalf of all the people working at Ducati," commented Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse General Director. "The victories and emotions he gave us, rewarded all the hard work and sacrifice we made. In these four years together we have had a lot of great moments. Securing the 2007 MotoGP World Championship title and the victory at Mugello in 2009 were moments that we will never forget. In Casey we not only found an incredibly talented rider, but also an honest and loyal guy and that's why there will always be a strong and sincere bond between us, even as a competitor."

"I must thank Ducati for giving me such a great opportunity to race and win with them over these past four years" commented Casey Stoner. "They took a gamble when they signed me at the end of 2006 as I was unknown, but as we worked together we were able to win a Championship, many races and challenge for the Championship in the last two seasons. I have now decided to move on and I will have new challenges in the future and different obstacles to overcome, but I will not forget these years with Ducati and the people I have had the privilege to work so closely with. So a big thanks to Ducati and all our sponsors who we have shared success with while achieving lifelong goals"

Now wait for the arrival of Rossi!

*********************************

Catalunya Podium for Stoner

Casey Stoner picked up his second consecutive podium in Catalunya today, repeating his third-place finish from Assen eight days ago, whilst his team-mate Nicky Hayden, who struggled to find the right balance for his Desmosedici GP10 in practice, finished in eighth place – a result that lifts him to fourth in the championship.

Stoner, who himself moves up to sixth overall, came through a demanding race after making a good start to follow early leaders Lorenzo and Dovizioso as they opened up a gap over the field. An off-track excursion on the fifth lap ruled him out of the chase for victory but he returned to the track in determined fashion to pull himself back into the podium hunt.

After three back-to-back races the Ducati MotoGP Team now has a week to rest before returning to action on the 18th July at Sachsenring for the German Grand Prix.

CASEY STONER (Ducati MotoGP Team) 3°
"I made a decent start and managed to pull away from the others along with "Dovi" and Lorenzo. Unfortunately after a few laps I made a mistake, without which I think I could have stayed with them for the whole race – I just ran wide under braking and lost a lot of time. The bike felt more balanced in the second half of the race and I was able to make up a bit of ground but once I caught Dani I just couldn’t find a way past him. He rode really well - clean and faultless, without leaving me a single gap. To be honest I am a little disappointed but another podium is good for us and we have to be positive. We are working well, my feeling with the bike is good after the last three races and now we have to start making the most of our potential.

NICKY HAYDEN – (Ducati MotoGP Team) 8°
"What a tough race! We thought we had found something in the warm-up this morning using a worn tyre but in the race with the extra grip from a new tyre the balance just wasn’t the same. I was really struggling over the first few laps and held myself up on my elbow a couple of times. The situation improved in the second half of the race, I was able to push a little harder to the point where I thought I could make up some positions. I lost too much time behind Melandri though and we finished eighth. It’s not a great result but at least we have brought some points home and we’re now fourth in the championship. If we want to stay there we have to do much better and get back to the level we were at a couple of races ago.”

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager
"It is another podium but we hoped for more after a positive warm-up that didn’t really bear fruit in the race. But I am happy to see that Casey is back to being… well, Casey! Even after running off track he recovered with a lot of determination and tried his best to the end but he could do no more than he did. Nicky hasn’t had a great weekend in general – he hasn’t been able to find a balance for the bike but he has picked up some important points. We have to work hard to get back to the level we set ourselves at the start of the season.”

Circuit Record: Daniel Pedrosa (Honda - 2008), 1’42.358 – 166.251 Km/h
Best Pole: Casey Stoner (Ducati - 2008), 1’41.186 – 168.177 Km/h

2010 Race best lap: Andrea Dovizioso (Honda) 1’43.154 – 164.968 km/h

FABRIZIO (DUCATI XEROX) WORKS HARD TO TAKE PODIUM IN RACE 2 AT BRNO TODAY

Brno (Czech Republic), Sunday 11th July: a day of mixed fortunes for Michel Fabrizio and the Ducati Xerox Team on the Czech circuit of Brno today; a technical problem forced the Italian to retire in race 1 but he fought back to take a well deserved podium in race 2, after battling against Ruben Xaus (BMW). Noriyuki Haga on the other hand, starting from fifteenth on the grid, rode two strong races and made up many positions to close sixth and fifth.

Noriyuki Haga made a great start in the first race, carving his way through the field to move up from fifteenth on the grid to sixth by the end of the first lap. He chased Sylvain Guintoli for the first few laps and then Ruben Xaus but, although he got close, he was unable to pass the BMW. In the last part of the race he started to suffer from tyre wear and fought to the line to maintain sixth position, just ahead of James Toseland. Michel Fabrizio found himself caught up in traffic at the first corner and was in thirteenth position on the opening lap. Over the next five laps he made a good recovery as far as eighth place but unfortunately, as he was beginning to gain on Toseland, he suffered a mechanical problem with the engine and, finding he could not change gear, he was obliged to retire to the garage during the twelfth lap.

Race 2 took place on a much hotter track (60°C) and this time both Ducati Xerox riders made strong starts, particularly Noriyuki who by the second lap had already made up nine positions. Michel got past Xaus on lap five to take third place, leaving Ruben fourth ahead of Noriyuki in fifth. The Roman rider continued to fight against Xaus who pushed hard to get ahead once more in lap nine but on the fifteenth lap the Spanish rider made a mistake and fell, putting paid to his podium chances. Fabrizio, already too far behind race leaders Max Biaggi and Jonathan Rea, did not give up and continued to push to ensure himself of a podium spot after the disappointment of race 1. Noriyuki, who changed to the a r A type rear tyre for race 2 (a softer tyre than the C used in race 1), was doing everything he could to hold fourth place but two laps from the end Toseland got by, and the Japanese rider closed fifth.

After this ninth World Superbike round, Haga continues to lie in fifth position, holding 172 points, while his team-mate Fabrizio is eighth with 147 points. Ducati is third in the manufacturers standings with 276 points.

Noriyuki Haga (Race 1 – 6th, Race 2 – 5th)
“I made a strong start in Race 1 but it was difficult to catch Xaus. My tyres were not bad during the first half of the race but nevertheless I couldn’t push as I wanted to and Xaus remained there in front of me. In the second race we changed the tyre but maybe it doesn’t suit my riding style because I didn’t feel so stable and it didn’t give me enough feeling. Having said that, I was able to make up several positions and fifth, even though I hoped to do much better, wasn’t bad considering my grid position.”

Michel Fabrizio (Race 1 – DNF , Race 2 – 3rd)
“In Race 1 I realised straight away that I had a problem because I wasn’t able to push and then the bike started to vibrate a great deal. At a certain point I wasn’t able to put the bike into gear and so had to come back to the box. It’s a shame because I was gaining on Toseland and thought I could run a good race, maybe even reaching the podium. Race 2 went much better. I defended myself and am satisfied with the result, though I was sorry for Xaus of course.”

RESULTS: Race 1 – 1. Rea (Honda); 2. Biaggi (Aprilia); 3. Crutchlow (Yamaha). Race 2 - 1. Biaggi (Aprilia); 2. Rea (Honda); 3. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox)

CLASSIFICATION: Riders – 1. Biaggi (Aprilia) 352; 2. Haslam (Suzuki) 284; 3. Rea (Honda) 203; 4. Checa (Ducati) 189; 5. Haga (Ducati Xerox) 172; 6. Toseland (yamaha) 160; 7. Corser (BMW) 149; 8. Fabrizio (Ducati Xerox) 147;
Manufacturers – Aprilia 358; Suzuki 305; Ducati 276; Honda 214; Yamaha 206; BMW 163; Kawasaki 55