Ducati’s radical new contender for the MotoGP Championship has been revealed to the world. It now has a green band to go with the traditional red and white that had been always used and this means that the Ducati GP12 is carrying the theme of the Italian Tricolore. Architect of the bike, Filippo Preziosi has said that the motorcycle is using full 1000cc capacity and that it continues to have a 90 degree V angle. However, looking at the single radiator that has replaced the usual two it is being said that the cylinder bank has been rotated backwards and therefore one sees that the fuel tank is higher than on previous models. It is also believed that the petrol tank is actually situated under the rider’s seat and all this has been done to get a better mass centralization and more weight on the front, something which Rossi and Hayden have been asking for. Under the dummy tank is the air cleaner element. It is already known that Ducati for the first time ever have gone in for an aluminium delta box frame supposedly being built by British chassis specialists FTR who are also building the frame for the Avintia BQR Kawasaki engined motorcycles that are participating in the CRT category.
Both Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden are cautiously optimistic about the potential of the bike, especially since the two Sepang tests have not seen the bike taking off in great style and closing the gap to the Hondas and Yamahas.
