There was a packed schedule again on the third day of Wrooom 2010 at Madonna di Campiglio on Wednesday, with Claudio Domenicali coming under the spotlight in a morning press conference. The General Manager of Ducati Motor later joined Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden on the spectacular Patascoss slope to unveil the new Ducati Desmosedici GP10, the Ducati Marlboro Team’s latest weapon in the chase for the MotoGP title, against the dramatic backdrop of the Dolomites - recently added by Unesco to their World Natural Heritage list.
“The main changes to the bike are based on the rule changes, so the major part of the work was done precisely to make it perform better using only six engines for the entire championship,” explained Domenicali. “It’s a very important difference, because we were used to using more-or-less one engine per race, so to switch from 18 engines to six is a very important adjustment. All of the main parts were redesigned - pistons, rods, crankshaft, the basics. It’s an engine with which our main objective was to minimise the loss of power to increase durability.”
Domenicali continued: “The second big news isn’t related to the rules, but to our attempt to make the bike more rideable. This has to do with the firing order. We have a motor that, since the switch to 800cc, utilised a screamer set-up. This has permitted us to have maximum power, which was very important and was probably fundamental with the results that we’ve had in 2007, 2008 and 2009, but at a certain point, we began to wonder whether it could be worthwhile to re-test a way that we’d already followed in the past. The last 1000cc motors that we made in 2005 and 2006 used a big-bang firing order, and this gave us important rideability. We re-tested that way, first trying it on the dyno, then with Vittoriano Guareschi in his previous role as test rider and then with Nicky and Casey.”
“We think we have a bike for 2010 with better traction, and that therefore makes it easier for us to find a good set-up. Another part of the work was dedicated to the chassis. In the pursuit of ease of use, we’ve worked to eliminate the bike’s squatting, which is why the entire rear portion of the bike was redesigned. This bike has a rear structure that carries the rider - which we call the seat support - and that also supports the swingarm. That part was redesigned to have six mounting points instead of four; this makes the bike more rigid in a way and it guarantees better rideability and improved rigidity. With respect to the bike we introduced last year, this bike is also aesthetically different because of the redesigned fairing but we already saw that at Estoril.”
Domenicali then discussed the recent changes to Ducati Marlboro Team management.
“2009 was a year - even from a sporting perspective - that was difficult and complicated. Nicky found things harder than he or we expected but he gave us a great lesson because he never lost his good attitude, he always had a spirit of great optimism and positivity. We were able to put at his disposal a bike that permitted him to obtain results that were in line with his talent. He gave us a podium at Indianapolis and he kept improving the whole season.”
“Casey was very fast from the start, as he always is, and had great potential. Of course what happened at mid-season affected the season, but I believe that everyone - from Casey to us - has described what happened and clarified it so it seems useless for me to continue to give details. The important thing, in my opinion, is that today we have Casey with us, probably in the best health we’ve ever seen him. We have reason for optimism for both riders.”
“There have also been some changes to the management, with Alessandro Cicognoni and Vitto Guareschi coming in, having shown themselves in the team to have competence and perhaps even bring things that were missing. I believe that this important change leaves the company in a solid situation, also because it’s in some way personalised by an incredible talent as Filippo Preziosi, who is the true engine of all our racing activities, and he remains safe, solid, and dedicated. I believe it’s a change in the continuity, if we can define it that way.”
Domenicali continued to add: “Faith is the key word that Ducati are using in looking ahead to 2010, in a variety of aspects. We have a team that certainly makes us think we can approach the Championship with great hope. Nicky and Casey are two riders who don’t need any type of introduction. We have faith in the company, because it has a solid, stable base in the Bonomi family, and it’s a company that has managed 2009 well: the motorcycle market had a big decline in 2009 - the market declined by over 30 percent, a very heavy, difficult amount. But our company managed very well and we dropped ‘only’ 18 percent. In fact, in 2009, we had the largest share that the company has ever enjoyed historically. So also from the economic point of view, the company knew how to control very carefully its costs and manage 2009 well. For example, we didn’t cut or eliminate any development of future models, something that’s fundamental for the future health of the company.”
“We have faith in the Championship, because I see that Carmelo Ezpeleta (CEO, Dorna Sports) - here with us - has come through a truly difficult moment, with great character. He’s always been present in person, and he’s somebody with whom you can have a relationship and a dialogue, so it’s very important for our company to be present in a Championship run in this manner and Carmelo is thanked personally for this.”
“We have faith in our sponsors, because 2009, as I said, has been very difficult and yet we’ve managed to continue good relationships with them. We have a very important main sponsor in Marlboro - obviously our host at this event - which has confirmed our faith. We have other important partners like Telecom, Generali, Enel, Riello ups, that have been with us and grown with us over a long period of time. We also have faith in the media, who are well represented in this sport.”

The Wrooom Press Ski Meeting 2010 officially opened on Monday, in a week that traditionally combines spectacle, sport and meetings with the international press in Madonna di Campiglio’s magnificent Dolomites.
Events will get underway on Tuesday, with press conferences with the two Ducati MotoGP Team riders, Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden.
On Wednesday it will be the turn of Claudio Domenicali, General Manager of Ducati Motor Holding, with another key moment being the official presentation of the Ducati Desmosedici GP 10.
The week will also include events dedicated to the Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro team, with drivers Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and test driver Giancarlo Fisichella all present, and proceedings will conclude on Friday.

Héctor Barberá will make the graduation from the quarter-litre category to MotoGP in 2010, returning to the Aspar structure with which he made his World Championship debut in 2002.
Riding on Ducati machinery in the premier class, Barberá will again be teamed with Jorge Martinez ‘Aspar’ as he enters the next stage in a career that has already spanned eight seasons at the age of just 23.
Barberá made his World Championship debut in Japan at just 15 years old, and after a promising first season he went from strength to strength. In only his second season in the single cylinder category in 2003 Barberá amassed an impressive five podiums; a first GP win at Donington amongst them.
Better was to come in his final year in 125cc in 2004, as second overall was the result of a fine season which produced four wins and a further three podiums, the final race of the season at Valencia a highlight as Barberá won in front of his home crowd.
A move up to the 250cc class followed and after a year of settling in, 2006 delivered a win from pole position in China as Barberá finished seventh overall. He improved by two places in 2007, and in 2008 was a favourite for the title after being given an official Aprilia RSA. However, a crash in a practice session at the Japanese GP ended Barberá’s season early as he sustained fractures in two of the vertebrae in his back.
Returning for the start of the 2009 season, Barberá produced his best ever final classification in the 250cc World Championship in the category’s last ever season.
Victory in the opening race of the season in Qatar started the year in fantastic style for the Spaniard, and an eighth podium of the year in Valencia in the final race – another win on his home track – sealed second place in the 2009 standings.
Barberá began his preparations for his debut season in MotoGP immediately after finishing the 2009 campaign, riding the Desmosedici GP9 at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit in the post-season test. Jerez provided the setting a few weeks later as he again took out the 800cc prototype, this time in wet conditions, and his education aboard the machine will continue in the next scheduled MotoGP test in Sepang in February.

Dubbed the ‘Battle of Catalunya’, Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo’s fantastic fight for victory has been classified by many as the highlight of the 2009 season.
A contest between two team-mates, battling for the win until the very end, was an awesome spectacle which saw Rossi secure victory at the very last opportunity, and here you can experience all the gripping action once again.
The full race is available in High Resolution, and you can also see the duel from several different perspectives.
Bird’s Eye View offers you the opportunity to see how the race between Rossi and Lorenzo unfolded from an aerial viewpoint, captured by helicopter cameras, while Pure Track allows you to see the last three laps as they happened. OnBoard delivers a unique and thrilling camera angle from both riders’ bikes.
Finally, MotoGP Rewind gives you a free video highlights package of the race.

Italian riders Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi brought excitement and a deep dislike of one another to the MotoGP scene in the early 2000s, as they fought in every sense for the right to be crowned World Champion.
Their rivalry began in the late 90s before they had even started to race in the same category, and by the time they competed against one another in the premier class in the 2000 season the battle lines had been drawn.
Completely different mentalities in both living and racing, Rossi and Biaggi divided fans as they rode for different teams in their individual quests to take the MotoGP crown.
MotoGP commentator Nick Harris sums up perfectly the tension that had been building between the pair, and continued to do so throughout their contests after the battle lines were drawn following an infamous incident at Suzuka in the 2001 Japanese Grand Prix.
“You knew the conflict that had been simmering, not so much on the track because they had not ridden together that much because Rossi had just arrived in the 500cc class the year before, but it transferred onto the track and you knew it was going to take off from that moment; it was brilliant!” explained Harris.
In the attached video you can watch interviews with Harris, Rossi and Biaggi and Carlo Pernat, former manager of both riders, as well as the best footage of their electrifying clashes.
Tomorrow, motogp.com relives the magnificent duel between Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo at the 2009 Gran Premi Cinzano de Catalunya.

Protagonists of one of the most exciting finishes ever to a World Championship, Frenchman Olivier Jacque and his Japanese team-mate Shinya Nakano took their fight for the quarter-litre title all the way to the final seconds of the 2000 season.
Separated by only a few points after 15 races of the campaign, the duo arrived for the final race of the year in Australia with tensions high. Jacque was the eventual victor as he slipstreamed Nakano and won the race by 0.014s.
““It was very risky. I could have overtaken him before but he’d had a very good season, a very good race and he also deserved the title, so I gambled. It was really risky, the last curve, the last straight,” said the Frenchman in an interview in 2006.
Jacque also remembered clearly the feelings before the start of the race.
“In Australia the winner of the Championship would be the one who finished in front of the other,” he added. “The pressure was very high, I remember, but it was very psychological. We were sharing the same room and changed in the same place. This was a hard time because you really needed somewhere to rest and concentrate.”
Nakano fought hard to compete with Jacque to prove himself, and pushed his team-mate all the way.
“The team were all French and so is Olivier, so if I was always behind him I couldn’t get anything. So that is why I tried to show my potential to the team staff, and that is why in every race and on every lap I pushed hard to finish in front of him,” said Nakano.
“This race I still remember,” he continued, turning his attention to the title decider. “Before the race my strategy was, of course to do my best, and push hard from the first lap. I did not pray, I just got out there and hoped that I would get the right result.”
In the attached video you can see both riders’ interviews as well as footage of their on-track contest. Tomorrow, motogp.com reviews the all-Italian rivalry between Valentino Rossi and Max Biaggi.

High speeds, daring moves and courageous riders; all are here in this highlights video package from motogp.com which brings together the most breathtaking action clips of the 2009 season.

A wealth of talent will be on show at the 2009 Findomestic Memorial Bettega, set to be held at the Motor Show in Bologna on 7-8 December. Alongside FIA WRC World Rally Champions Petter Solberg and Marcus Gronholm, FIA Junior WRC World Champion Sébastien Ogier and 2009 FIA WRC World Rally runner-up Mikko Hirvonen, the Motorsport Arena will also see nine-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi in action.
The Italian rider has decided to return to the Motor Show after previously experiencing the Memorial Bettega. Rossi will get behind the wheel of the Ford Focus WRC prepared by Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport in the team’s UK factory.
According to official Ford driver Hirvonen, who has already raced on the mixed tarmac/dirt track of the Findomestic Memorial Bettega, Rossi will provide stiff competition alongside the other participants.
“As far as I'm concerned, all of the adversaries are dangerous, especially given that the starting line up includes drivers of the calibre of Gronholm, Solberg, Ogier, Navarra and Östberg, to say nothing of the great Valentino,” said Hirvonen.
Other motorcycling names will go head-to-head in the Yokohama Superbikers Drifting contest, where they will be at the wheel of Ford Mustangs prepared by Gandin Motors and fitted with Yokohama tyres. Amongst those who will unleash the horsepower of the US coupés will be Andrea Dovizioso, Mattia Pasini, Andrea Iannone and Loris Reggiani.

Pons Kalex’s research ahead of the inaugural Moto2 season will take its next step on Wednesday, with the team conducting the second test of its 600cc 4-stroke prototype in Valencia.
The scheduled Moto2 test at Valencia from December 9-10 will see a host of machines taken out on the track, as teams and riders maintain their pre-season programmes.
For the Pons Kalex team, who have been further developing their bike over the past few weeks in Germany, Axel Pons and Sergio Gadea will be collecting data to add to what was established in Valencia in the post-season test last month.
Pons, who had an operation in Barcelona two weeks ago to remove pins from his legs, will be joined by Gadea, who will ride the bike for the first time and is being viewed by the team as a potential acquisition for the category next season.
Team manager Sito Pons said, “Although the winter seems to be a long one, the start of the season will be here very soon. When you’re working on a bike for a new category, it’s very important to have a prototype that can be developed quickly and in the best way possible.”
“In this sense, Kalex is doing a great job, and with an extraordinary level of technology. The test in Valencia will be another step in our process, and we are convinced we can get some very good results.”
After the test in Valencia this week, Pons Kalex plan to return to the track from December 14-15 at the Almeria circuit.

Day of Champions is the perfect way for race fans to start their MotoGP weekend, and Riders for Health are thrilled to be welcomed to Silverstone on MotoGP’s return to this historic circuit.
With the 2010 race scheduled for Sunday 20th June, the Day of Champions will take place on Thursday 17th June.
Each year thousands of fans join Riders for Health and the teams and riders from the MotoGP paddock to help raise thousands of pounds to help get health workers on the road in Africa. Day of Champions 2009 raised a total of £177,000.
In 2010 fans will have the chance to see inside the paddock and pit-lane at Silverstone for the first time. This is a unique chance to see behind the scenes of one of the world’s most exciting sporting events.
As always the highlight of the day will be the famous Day of Champions auction. The stars of MotoGP will be onstage to help auction signed memorabilia, helmets, leathers and paintings. In 2009 the Day of Champions MotoGP auction raised £77,000.
Fans will also get to see the future heroes of MotoGP when the riders from the 125cc World Championship take to the stage, along with the stars of the brand new Moto2 class.
More information about Day of Champions 2010 will be announced soon, along with details of when tickets will be going on sale. To make sure you are the first to know, keep checking the Riders for Health website at www.riders.org.
You can also sign up to Riders’ monthly email newsletter, Riders News, online. Riders are also on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ridersforhealth.

The lead-up to the 2009 season did not run as smoothly as Marco Melandri would have wished, with the Italian expecting to ride an official Kawasaki bike. The factory’s decision to withdraw from the MotoGP World Championship this year meant Melandri was entered as a single rider entrant with Hayate Racing, but without any guarantees of competitiveness on the Ninja ZX-RR.
Entering an important season as he aimed to recover from a tough previous year with Ducati Marlboro, the initial signs were that the 27 year-old had been largely unaffected by the pre-season change in his deal with Kawasaki. Despite a poor start in Qatar, Melandri put together a run of three strong results. Sixth and fifth in Japan and Jerez respectively were followed up by a first – and only – podium of the season in France in a race which started in wet conditions.
After his remarkable second place in the flag-to-flag contest at Le Mans in May, a stretch of four races in which Melandri made the top ten only once – at Laguna Seca – followed. At Mugello he even led the race, but a final placing of 11th was part of a series of results that was something of a dip compared to his earlier form.
Back-to-back seventh places at Donington and Sachsenring saw Melandri break his run, and at the British Grand Prix he qualified in a season’s best place of seventh on the grid.
Disappointment was next up however with consecutive crashes at Brno – a final-lap collision with Mika Kallio – and Indianapolis, where Melandri was battling with James Toseland for sixth place until he crashed out with three laps remaining.
Despite these mishaps Melandri managed three more top-ten finishes in the final five races of the campaign, even with throttle problems on his ZX-RR, but ended on a frustrating note as his acceleration issues led to 17th place in Valencia. He finished the season in 10th place when there had been real hope of winning the battle for seventh in the overall standings.
It was nevertheless an impressive effort in 2009 from the Italian in some testing circumstances. In 2010 Melandri returns to the San Carlo Honda Gresini team for whom he secured five victories with in three seasons, and finished runner-up with in the 2005 World Championship.

Valencia provided the setting for Capcom to present the MotoGP 09/10 game as Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargaró tested their skills on the virtual version of their bikes.
Trying the game out for the first time the duo pitted their wits against one another, as they took a look at how gamers will be able to select from all the riders, teams and 17 circuits from the official 2009 MotoGP season upon the game’s release in March. Those who play will also be able to access free downloadable content from the 2010 season as it unfolds, keeping up to date with all developments as they happen.
Available on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, MotoGP 09/10 takes an exciting new direction and features an all new Arcade mode, in which players must complete different race challenges before time runs out. There is also a Career mode, where players take control of their MotoGP championship both on and off the track, competing in the races and managing their team as they try to build their career as a racing pro.
Like Kallio and Espargaró, players can compete in a full championship season across the 125cc, 250cc and MotoGP classes, and challenge others around the world in online mode.
The game, which has been developed by Monumental Games and will be published by Capcom, will be available for purchase in March 2010.

Fiat Yamaha enjoyed a clean sweep in the MotoGP World Championship for the second year running in 2009, with Jorge Lorenzo even making it a one-two in the riders’ Championship by finishing second to Valentino Rossi, and Yamaha Motor Racing Managing Director Lin Jarvis has reviewed what he describes as a ‘great year’.
“We’ve had a fantastic season,” said a delighted Jarvis. “To finish with the triple crown of three victories for the second year running is fantastic, and so is Jorge taking second in the Championship. It’s been a great year.”
Lorenzo’s constant pressure on Rossi throughout the season made it an enthralling battle between the team mates, and Jarvis expects more of the same next year.
“One rider didn’t totally dominate the Championship, it was very close and very tense, but Valentino made fewer mistakes and had many victories, so he did a great job,” said Jarvis. “Jorge made good progress as well, but let’s see what next year will bring because Casey Stoner has also shown how fast he is and Dani Pedrosa again showed today what he’s capable of. So the top four are a cut above the rest, I would say, and next year will be hard.”
Asked whether a repeat of Yamaha’s triple success could be achieved for a third successive year, Jarvis acknowledged the quality of the competition as well as his own team’s.
“Everything is possible! I think we have super riders, a great team and good engineers, so we have all the tools,” he said. “But of course our competitors are attacking from every side and when you are the leader you can only be attacked. So it’s not easy to do it again, but we’ll certainly give our maximum effort and I think we have all the ingredients.”

Jorge Lorenzo was the guest of honour at an event to unveil the new Jupiter Z this week, as he appeared at a 5,700 capacity convention centre in Jakarta.
The 22 year-old, who started his South East Asia tour in Bangkok last week, took part in a spectacular show and was dressed in his Fiat Yamaha colours.
“Today I have experienced one of the greatest spectacles in an auditorium I can remember,” said Lorenzo. “The show was impressive and it makes you realise how much power this country has. It’s growing at a fast rate and Yamaha sells nearly three million units annually.”
“I’ve felt very welcome in all the places I have been this season, but I have to admit Indonesia feels especially important even though it hasn’t had a Grand Prix since the mid 90s. I would love this country to return to the MotoGP World Championship, as it has displayed the affection it has for motorcycles.”
Lorenzo will now enjoy a short holiday in Bali after concluding his four-day Yamaha tour.

Fausto Gresini has given an honest assessment of his team’s 2009 season, and is positive about the forthcoming campaign with an all-Italian rider line-up of rookie Marco Simoncelli and the experienced Marco Melandri.
Looking back over the season just finished, Gresini analysed the 7th and 8th places which were achieved in the final standings by Toni Elías and Alex de Angelis respectively. The Italian was pleased with how his team had performed in the latter half of the season, with a podium for Elías at Brno and De Angelis at Indianapolis making for a strong finish.
“I must say we had a very difficult first part of the Championship, with the second half decidedly better,” said the team boss. “We achieved two podiums, which is not many but it is important to our team. In the end, we achieved our goals, with 7th and 8th position for our riders, and a good placement for the team (fifth).”
“Without doubt it has not been an easy campaign, but MotoGP is a competitive category and we have done a good job, although we’re not content and in the future we want to do better.”
The combination of Simoncelli and Melandri – who was MotoGP World Championship runner-up with the team in 2005 – is one which Gresini is convinced will help the team develop further.
“We are already thinking about 2010. We cannot set ourselves strict targets because then it is difficult to keep promises,” said Gresini. “We want to do very well, with a rookie who is very fast in Simoncelli and a skilled rider in Melandri, who I know well. In the next Championship we can do very well, and are convinced Honda will make a more competitive bike. Obviously we have to work hard, but we always do that. We are ready and will face 2010 with a calm outlook.”

By Paul Denning’s own admission 2009 was an inconsistent year for Rizla Suzuki, and the team manager is determined to make next season more successful with a vastly improved display.
A quartet of fifth-placed finishes for Loris Capirossi was accompanied by a series of mixed results for the Italian and his team-mate Chris Vermeulen, with the pair ending the campaign in ninth and 12th places respectively and without any podiums.
“We were not consistent,” began Denning’s honest assessment. “In some races we were super strong and Loris was able to do a great job with the bike, but the bike was not consistent in all conditions. In the end that was reflected in Loris’ finish of ninth in the championship and Chris who came 12th, and we didn’t deserve so much more.”
Denning continued, “We have to improve the bike and the consistency a lot and nobody within the team is satisfied with this year’s result. Suzuki did a great job with the engine performance, now it’s not too bad and is quite competitive with the other guys, but we have to improve the chassis performance and this is the big priority for this winter.”
Teaming up with Capirossi next season will be MotoGP rookie Álvaro Bautista, who has impressed the Rizla Suzuki structure in tests at Valencia and Estoril. Denning believes the Spaniard is the perfect accompaniment alongside veteran Capirossi.
“The 2010 season is a new start with Bautista, which we’re very excited about. He has shown that he’s a racer and this spirit should really help push the team forward,” Denning enthused. “For us the balance in the team for next year is correct, because we have to improve the machine a lot and we need an experienced rider to do that. I think Loris’ job will be to develop the bike, and to push hard like he always does and to help Álvaro. I think this is a good combination for us.”

Randy de Puniet equalled his best-ever finish to a season in MotoGP this year with 11th position, and his LCR Honda team manager Lucio Cecchinello believes the Frenchman is well placed to better that in 2010.
A series of good finishes peaked with De Puniet’s first and only podium of the season in round 10 at Donington, which took him up to eighth in the standings. However, a training accident after the British Grand Prix left the 28 year-old with a broken ankle which required screws to be inserted, and while De Puniet managed to ride through the pain for the remainder of the season his form suffered as a result, thus depriving him of a higher overall finish.
De Puniet was involved in a tight battle for seventh place in the MotoGP standings until the end of the season, and the form displayed by him this year has led Cecchinello to aim high for the new campaign.
“We are quite happy with the results, because we definitely improved,” said Cecchinello. “We had a good chance to put in good performances, especially when we made the podium in the British GP, so we are quite happy.”
“This year we had the chance to finish, let’s say, as the best independent team in the rankings. We had a couple of crashes and Randy broke his ankle in August so we didn’t achieve our objective. Definitely next year we would like to be the first independent team in the ranking.”