KTM X-Bow in GT4?

Well, I guess cutting production of a vehicle in half for the upcoming year doesn't mean you can't go and race! KTM's X-Bow race vehicle, which has been qualifying pretty well in the British GT championship race for this weekend, is moving up a class from GT3 to GT4!!! In GT3, the X-Bow (in on invitation) finished 0.45 seconds behind the MTECH GT3 Ferrari Scuderia and ahead of of the GT4 Ginetta G50 by a consistent and solid 3 seconds! So, for this race, the X-Bow got the bump and is in GT4.

"While we have enjoyed success in the Supersport class, it's not been as popular as the British or European organizers had anticipated. KTM in Austria therefore took the decision to develop a full GT4-specification X-Bow for the 2010 season. The objective for KTM is to position X-Bow as the leading contender in British and European GT4 racing next year, while also being cost-effective," said Jeff Lau, manager of KTM U.K.

Check out more information in the article posted on Edmunds.com here.

Puma motorsport and... Tyson Beckford?

Model, Car and moto enthusiast, Tyson Beckford gets to play with the Puma motorsport Ducat team. Lucky guy.

This is the third blog post today and it's not even 9 A.M. yet... Lucky you!

This was apparently apart of the '09 Misano Ducati Experience program. And yes, it's no coincidence that the rider is also a model and happens to be wearing PUMA EVERYTHING!

WSBK: Watch the next round of Superbike.. from you desk!

This could be listed under BIG.

Ducati Xerox is teaming up with Ducati.com to bring live streaming of the Imola Superbike weekend to your computer! From the Xerox Ducati Garage!!!

Check out the link for the deets!

Nitro Nori FTW!

Ducati Hypermotard 796

So, on Ducati's Facebook page, they decided to reveal news about the new Hypermotard 796, AHEAD of the EICMA show! It looks to be a lighter, shorter Hypermotard with hopefully a lighter price-point.

The machine comes on new wheels and a black front beak in comparison to the Hypermotard 1100. Check out the link for more info straight from Ducati's website!

EDIT: I don't think we were supposed to jump the gun and let out the price point yet, as the emails from Ducati said it was confidential, but Ducati Seattle just posted it up on their facebook page, so I'm treating it as fair game! Price for the Hypermotard 796? $9995.

Pretty nice eh? The Hyper is definitely my favorite Ducati and I may have to reconsider my vow to never own one because I'd "kill myself and die smiling" on it... Hmmm.

nice Ducati GT1000 comparo

Motorcycle-usa just did a comparo on the Ducati GT1000 Touring and the Triumph Bonneville. Apparently, they discovered what we already knew: With the premium price tag, you get a premium bike that can't be beat!

Check out the article here!

New Model Rumors: Hypermotard 796

Just posted on Motoblog.it, It looks like Ducati may grace us with a "lean" version of the Hypermotard, the 796.

Check out the post and note that it's been translated via Google's translation service, so it may be a little funky reading.

The bike (along with others) will be officially revealed at the November EICMA show.

Letko Service Notice

The week of September 13th, Mario and Jared will be out for Service Training. That means the service department will be closed for the whole week. Heads-up!

2011 MV Agusta F3 caught in the wild

Previously posted here in concept art form, new pix have shown up on the internet of the Italian three-cylinder sportbike. Asphault and Rubber.com have more on the source of the photo and you can read about here.

Ducati + Ferrari Meet pt 1.5

Okay, you ask and you shall recieve. Here's more info in regards to the upcoming Italian meetup:

FERRARI CLUB OF AMERICA KC CHAPTER

Ferrari Car Show

Downtown Lawrence, KS

Sunday, September 27th, 2008

11:00am to 2pm

Special Guests:

MID-AMERICA DUCATI OWNERS GROUP

Ferrari and Ducati Parking ONLY

7th Street between Vermont and Mass will be blocked off to create space for parking.

The Historic Eldridge Hotel will reserve tables fo rthe goup for Sunday brunch. RSVPs are needed for the Brunch and it will give the car show organizers an idea as to the numer of cars and motorcycles that will be a the show from 11 to 2.

Ducati + Ferrari Meet

It's happening again folks: The Ducati + Ferrari meet is going down via MADOG on Sunday, September 27th. I don't have too many details at the moment, but 7th and Mass St. is the location and more info is available from the MADOG site.

EnduroCross: Shane Watts to ride in South Carolina

Big news! Shane Watts (who is coming to town to do a DirtWise school in October) has just announced that he's going to be riding the GEICO Powersports AMA EnduroCross this month! Watts, a super accomplished off-road champion, has many impressive wins under his belt but hasn't competed in too many races recently, and as far as I can remember, never an EnduroCross. This should be an exciting race!

“This is big – getting Watts in the starting gate at Florence,” said Mike Karsting VP of Events for Source Interlink Media. “It’s not like a well-known pro motocross racer coming in and racing GEICO EnduroCross for the first time. Watts’ got a legitimate shot to make the podium,”

Set your TiVos to record and watch the action September 12!

MotoGP: Hayden is on for 2010

It looks like everyone knows where they're going to be next year in MotoGP, including the Kentucky Kid, Nicky Hayden. He was the big hold-out as far as whether he wanted to continue to struggle with the Ducati GP bike, and it looks as if his recent successes have proved that maybe he can tame the beast!

“This has been a very good week and this news just adds to that. After the good result in Indy, now to renew the deal with Ducati is exactly what I wanted. I’m very happy. I always had faith and believed that we could achieve good results.”

Yay!

You can find more info on the MotoGp.com site here.

Moto2: The new-new.

This really isn't Ducati or KTM or MV Agusta-related, but if you're a fan of road-racing you may be interested in this..

FIM, the governing body of MotoGP is replacing the 250cc class with an all-new approach called Moto2. The bikes are all Dunlop-equipped, Honda-engined 600cc 150HP machines which should prove to make for exciting racing. With teams on the same tires and engines, it could really be NASCAR on two wheels... But with right-hand turns!

Keep your eyes peeled for Moto2 in 2010!

MotoGP: Hayden's season looking stronger

Sorry for posting this so late; I thought I already made a post about it....

If you're not in the know- which if you're not then you don't care anyway- Nicky Hayden took home his first podium for Ducati this past Sunday in Indianapolis.

This is such old news at this point for Ducatisti that I'm just going to link to MotoGP's site if you want more in depth info. Check it out here.

WSBK: The Ring. It's coming.

The six week holiday is over! Time to get to some racing! Xerox Ducati and pilots Haga and Fabrizio are joining the rest of the paddock soon for some exciting racing soon at Germany's infamous Nurburgring.

Last year was the 1rst year in a LONG time that WSBK was hosted by the 'ring, and I'm hoping that this year's event doesn't get rained out!

Current World Superbike standings:

1. (1) Noriyuki Haga - Ducati Xerox 326 points

2. (2) Ben Spies - Yamaha WSB 319

3. (3) Michel Fabrizio - Ducati Xerox 273

4. (4) Jonathan Rea - Ten Kate Honda 206

5. (6) Max Biaggi - Aprilia 200

6. (5) Leon Haslam - Stiggy Honda 180

7. (7) Tom Sykes - Yamaha WSB 150

8. (9) Carlos Checa - Ten Kate Honda 145

8. (10) Shane Byrne - Sterilgarda Ducati 135

10. (8) Jakub Smrz - Guandalini Ducati 132

11. (11) Ryuichi Kiyonari - Ten Kate Honda 119

12. (12) Yukio Kagayama - Suzuki Alstare Brux 96

13. (13) Shinya Nakano - Aprilia 86

14. (14) Regis Laconi - DFX Ducati 77

15. (15) Max Neukirchner - Suzuki Alstare Brux 75

16. (17) Troy Corser - BMW Alpha 53

17. (16) Ruben Xaus - BMW Alpha 50

18. (18) Broc Parkes - Kawasaki WSB 31

19. (22) Matthieu Lagrive - Althea Honda 19

20. (19) John Hopkins - Stiggy Honda 17

21. (20) Leon Camier - Airwaves Yamaha 13

22. (27) Fonsi Nieto - Suzuki Alstare Brux/DFX Ducati 13

23. (21) Gregorio Lavilla - Guandalini Ducati 12

24. (24) Lorenzo Lanzi - DFX Ducati 10

25. (23) Jamie Hacking - Kawasaki WSB 9

26. (35) Makoto Tamada - Kawasaki WSB 8

27. (25) James Ellison - Airwaves Yamaha 8

28. (26) Sheridan Morais - Kawasaki WSB 8

29. (28) Simon Andrews - MSS Colchester Kawasaki 6

30. (29) Tommy Hill - Althea Honda 6

31. (30) Karl Muggeridge - Celani Suzuki 4

32. (31) Brendan Roberts - Guandalini Ducati 3

33. (32) Roberto Rolfo - Stiggy Honda 3

34. (33) Matteo Baiocco PSG-1 Kawasaki 3

35. (34) Luca Scassa - Pedercini Kawasaki 3

36. (36) Jake Zemke - Stiggy Honda 1

37. (37) Alessandro Polita - Celani Suzuki 1

38. (-) Vittorio Iannuzzo - SCI Honda 1

Manufacturer Points race:

1. (1) Ducati 412 points

2. (2) Yamaha 362

3. (3) Honda 306

4. (4) Aprilia 207

5. (5) Suzuki 133

6. (6) BMW 87

7. (7) Kawasaki 53