Ducati 1200 confirmed
Ducati has confirmed our recent story that it is working on a bigger capacity twin, possible a 1200, and has had an engine under development for several months. The bike is likely to draw its styling form the company's most successful model in recent yeaAccording to Australian Motorcycle News, the Director of the company's world superbike operation, Paolo Ciabatti, has confirmed the story but is reluctant to provide detail.
The company is said to have given one of the powerplants a run in the rolling gear of a 999 race bike.
Ducati has struggled to gain acceptance for the styling of its current 999, and has the additional problem of battling much higher performance levels from its one-litre Japanese sports bike rivals.
Caludio Domenicali, head of product development, is quoted as acknowledging that the performance gap has become an issue with buyers. "We decided that, in the long term, Ducati must have in its range a larger capacity twin-cylinder sports model," he told AMCN.
Meanwhile the company has revealed that it is well advanced with the development of the Desmosedici GP7 (pictured), the 800cc race bike being built for the 2007 MotoGP rules. Test rider Vittoriano Guareschi has given it its first shake-down.
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