Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi have made a formal request to get the date of next year’s Qatar night race pushed further back in the world championship calendar.

[Via Motor Cycle News]

Tickets are now on sale for the Mugello Grandstand. This year the Ducati Grandstand Tour will take in 9 international MotoGP races.

Following the success of the Ducati Grandstand at Italian rounds last year, Ducati has decided to use the same formula at other MotoGP rounds around the world.

It will now be possible to follow your heroes trackside at the Italian circuits of Mugello and Misano, but also at the European rounds of Le Mans, Sachsenring and Valencia, as well as at the international events at Laguna Seca and Indianapolis (U.S.A.), Phillip Island (Australia) and Motegi (Japan).

After testing a Ducati MotoGP bike last year in Valencia, seven time world champion Michael Schumacher again proved he was almost as fast on two wheels as he was on four, when he finished third in a bike race, held at the Hungarian track of Pannonia-Ring on Thursday.

[Via Auto Sport]

Airwaves Ducati today completed their second successful test of 2008. The 2.02 mile Calafat circuit presented some difficult conditions for the riders but both were pleased with their performance throughout the 4 day test.

[Via London Bikers]

Motojerez is organised to coincide with the MotoGp in the Jerez racing circuit. The event shall run from the Thursday 27th March to Sunday 30th March 2008. It provides a leisure opportunity for lovers of motorcycles or people that want to experience the incredible atmosphere of the area whilst watching the live race and practice on big screens.

[Via gibfocus]

The upcoming dates for AMS Ducati Trackdays has been released allowing riders to experience the thrills that motorcycling can provide while teaching within the limits of both the bike and rider. Organizers say AMS track days are for absolute beginners as well as riders from intermediate to advanced levels of experience who want to improve their road-riding skills or learn how to ride faster on the racetrack in the company of a team of experts.

[Via Clutch and Chrome]

In spite of all, the team is pretty worried about the competitiveness of the four-cylinders in the fast straights where both Xaus’s motorbike and the other Ducati got a gap of about 10 km/h.

[Via Superbike Planet]

[Photo Gallery]

Spaniard Ruben Xaus seems to like turning laps on his home soil. The Go Eleven Ducati rider claimed SBK victory at the Valencia circuit last year, the only privateer to take an ‘07 win. Now Xaus has recorded another impressive feat at the Spanish circuit, smashing the track record with his Ducati 1098R by tallying a 1′34.265 lap. The success of Xaus was complemented by that of fellow satellite Duc rider, Lorenzo Lanzi, who was seventh-fastest.

[Via Motorcycle USA]

Ruben Xaus smashed the lap record on the first day of official Superbike testing at Valencia in preparation for the third round of the HANNspree Superbike World Championship here on April 6th. Ducati Sterilgarda Go Eleven’s Spanish rider, a winner here last year, lapped in a time of 1m34.265s, the best performance ever by a Superbike on this track.

[Via Superbike News]

Airwaves Ducati completed its second test of 2008, at Calafat on Thursday, although Leon Camier missed the fourth and final day after a Wednesday fall.

[Via Crash.net]

German Alex Hofmann has undergone successful surgery to remove a plate and 15 screws from the left hand he seriously injured eight months ago at the Laguna Seca MotoGP in America.

[Via Motorcycle News]

Ducati team boss Livio Suppo has labeled world champion Casey Stoner as “almost unbeatable” after his dominant showing in the season opener in Qatar.

[Via Autosport.com]

Casey Stoner’s title defence began in the best fashion possible by winning the historic night race at the Losail Circuit in Qatar by a massive 5.323 seconds.

[Via Motorcyclenews]

Swiss watchmaker Tissot, the official MotoGP Timekeeper and Official Watch of the MotoGP Championship, presented the 2008 of Official Watches to Dona Sports CEO, Carmelo Ezpelata and the media. Dorna Sports is the commercial rights holder of the MotoGP motorcycling sport.

[Via The Peninsula Qatar]

Ducati North America is delighted to announce that NCR will serve as the official Ducati supported racing team in the 2008 Parts Canada Superbike Championship series. The team will campaign the new 848 Superbike in the Canadian Thunder National class.

[Via Road Racing World]