Ducati: Non hanno felicita

Friends, all is not well with our team at Ducati Corse. The star rider of Ducati's MotoGP motorcycle racing team, 2007 World Champion Casey Stoner, has been afflicted with illness for several months now, resulting in poor results in recent races. When I saw him race at Laguna Seca last month, the poor lad could barely dismount from his Ducati racing machine. Che peccato, Casey is not doing well.

Now, those "in the know" realize that MotoGP is right up there with Formula 1 auto racing for physical requirements in a sport; so, Casey is--and must be--in prime physical condition in order to race the 240 horsepower MotoGP bikes. So why is he failing physically then? In the wake of top doctors here in California being unable to locate any severe physical ailments, there has been speculation that the pressure that Casey is under to repeat his dominance of 2007 is so intense, that he is cracking under it. Such a phenomena is referred to as "psychosomatic", where the body cannot handle the immense mental demands, and thus begins to shut down.

Of course, it doesn't help poor Casey at all when he looks over and sees Italia's own eight-time world champion Valentino Rossi laughing and joking his way to the top step of the podium, into the championship lead, seemingly effortlessly.

Ducatisti worldwide wish Casey the best and hope that he can recover from his illness soon. A presto, amici!
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To learn more about the illness and the latest developments in Casey's racing programme, here is an article from just today that you may wish to read. (Click to enlarge.)

Valentino Rossi, il vincitore!

Hello my wonderful friends! Oh how I've missed you all!
[Long, Awkward Pause]

This past July, we once again made our annual pilgrimage to Laguna Seca racetrack for the MotoGP race; as I've mentioned before in Blogiorno, MotoGP is the premier motorcycle racing series worldwide, and if a rider can win a MotoGP championship, they are truly World Champion. Fortunately, the spectacle that is the MotoGP United States Grand Prix is only an hour and a half up the coast from my home here in California, making it a very easy journey.

Since the USGP has been in America in the "modern era", I've been cheering on my favorite rider, Italy's Valentino Rossi, hoping for a victory, even praying to our pal Benedict XVI for one, even though I'm not Catholic; that's how desperate I've been. Finally, this year it happened! Not only did Valentino win this race, but he did so in such a way which left no doubt as to who the best motorcycle racer in the world is. He took the lead from Ducati's Casey Stoner on the first lap, and a battle of epic proportions raged for the next 45 minutes, with Stoner finally laying his bike over in the gravel. This race was without a doubt the best race I've ever been to, and perhaps the best MotoGP race I've ever seen; in fact, some seasoned MotoGP commentators have remarked that it was perhaps the best MotoGP race of all time!

At the end, after Valentino won, he stopped his bike at the world-famous "Corkscrew" turn, where he first took the lead, and he kissed the tarmac. Bravissimo!!!

Unfortunately, there was a minor dark cloud: Tom Cruise, his wife Katie and their "entourage" just HAD to watch the event from the Ducati timing stand, right on the racetrack, across from our seats, making us feel like lepers, and effectively sucking the oxygen right out of the race. Yes, Tom and his posse just had to cause a stir, bringing with them the standard paparazzi mayhem. WHAT. A. DRAG. Okay, okay, just kidding Tom, it was great to see you there. Now go away...and let Valentino bask in his well-earned glory!

You must see highlights of this race, so click here.

For more on Valentino, click here.

Grazie mille for reading! Until next time my friends,

Ciao!

Buon Natale da Blogiorno!

Hello my dear friends all over the world. As you may have noticed, I have not posted any entries in a while. Alas, I have been out of town for weeks on end due to work-related things, but now I'm back home for the holidays. I would like to wish each and EVERY one of you a very happy, healthy and joyous Christmas. Thank you for reading and commenting here at Blogiorno. I do appreciate it very much, and it has also given me the opportunity to visit your blogs in return.

Take care and may God bless you greatly during this holiday season.

With my warmest regards,

-Aaron

Ducati's Greatest Day

Ciao my friends! And now, for your reading pleasure, a bit of noteworthy news from the exciting world of motorcycle racing. Last weekend, the Ducati motorcycle racing team, with the help of a fine son from the Koala nation of Australia, made some serious history by clinching the 2007 MotoGP World Championship. As we've noted before here at Blogiorno, Italy is perhaps THE center for all things excellent in the world, and racing is foremost in their achievements. Ducati set about to win the MotoGP championship in 2002. Five short years later, they did exactly that, taking their very first title. Their rider, 21 year old Casey Stoner of Australia, clinched the title for Ducati and all of Italia at the Japanese Grand Prix, which took place at Motegi Circuit in Japan. Even better, the race was won by the second Ducati rider, Italian Loris Capirossi.

To clinch the championship, MotoGP rookie Casey Stoner only needed to finish ahead of Italy's beloved son, Valentino Rossi. Casey finished sixth, and it was done. Normally, anyone beating Valentino Rossi triggers an immediate blacklisting here at Blogiorno, but we paused, took several deep breaths into the oxygen masks we knicked from British Airways and let the rage pass on by. Only the balm that is Ducati could quell such anger, which was soon replaced by unbridled joy, knowing that the manufacturer of our beloved street bike has been rewarded for their travail. The result of the race in Japan was, as you might expect, laughter and tears in the Ducati Marlboro Team pit, as well as in the Borgo Panigale factory headquarters, where more than one thousand fans watched the race alongside the Ducati dignitaries. Talk about rejoicing!

In my visit to the Ducati factory, I would have loved to see the Italians building the MotoGP race bikes; in fact, the racing shop is located in the center of the factory floor. However, visitors are forbidden from entering that area, and actually, you cannot even so much as point your camera in the general direction of said shop without politely getting your hand slapped by one of the beautiful Italian tour guide girls. Why? It is because of the millions and millions of dollars that it takes to field a MotoGP team, much less finish in the top 5 or fight for the championship. We're talking hundreds of millions of dollars just to get into the game. The pressure to win is very intense, and the danger of losing your technological edge via industrial espionage is equally as intense--that is no joke, and it happens all the time.

So this--the big money game that is MotoGP--is the reason for all the secrecy. It is also the reason for big tobacco's presence in motorsport, and for Marlboro being the chief sponsor of the Ducati racing team; large conglomerates like theirs are the only ones who have that kind of money to throw around. Here at Blogiorno, we don't have any objection to large corporations sponsoring racing teams, nor do we see any reason to pile on the already fledgling tobacco industry, especially because demonizing that industry was, for a time, the favorite chia-pet cause of Hollywood elitists...at least until they got distracted by all the shiny objects eminating from--cue Darth Vader's theme song--Walmart. (Cue a big eyeroll too, while you're at it. Grazie.) So while we simultaneously acknowledge the dangers of smoking AND laud the how-can-they-be-THAT-bad people at Marlboro, we also state unequivocally that if Walmart sponsored the Ducati Racing Team, we'd still be right there, sporting that smiley face mascot of theirs proudly on our official Ducati Racing Team merchandise.

So there you have it...the good folks at Marlboro, with their smooth good taste and rich tobacco flavor, now have themselves a World Championship racing team. But much more importantly, the Ducati Racing Team have realized their dream of taking motorcycle racing's highest honor, the MotoGP World Racing Championship.

Here are a few memorable quotes from the champions:

CASEY STONER, 2007 MotoGP World Champion
"At the moment it all feels a little bit unrealistic! I'm struggling for words, I don't think there's any feeling that can compare to this...we finally did it!"

LORIS CAPIROSSI, race winner, 7th in World Championship
"We struggled a lot this weekend, but I won my third consecutive race here...it's a great moment for me. It's also a great day for Casey, for Ducati and for the team."

GABRIELE DEL TORCHIO, CEO Ducati Motors
"This success is the best demonstration of Ducati excellence, is a triumph of Italian intelligence, talent, competences and the warmth that is one of our country's most vital assets. It's an important and remarkable achievement. It is a dream come true. We are speaking of a great feat realised thanks to Casey's commitment, bravery and team work, united with the work of our draughtsmen, technicians, engineers, team members, sponsors and everyone at the factory."

CLAUDIO DOMENICALI, Ducati Corse CEO
["Corse" means "Racing" in Italian. - AA]
"It is a dream come true - a fantastic feeling, really fantastic. I don't have enough words to thank all the guys who have contributed to this incredible achievement, which shows that Italy is a nation whose passion and talent can succeed in a hugely technically advanced field. It's certainly a good reason for Italians to be proud."

Bravo Signor Casey Stoner, Scuderia Ducati, e Italia!

Sono Un Ducatisti!

Ciao amici! Recently, I achieved a personal goal of mine—I acquired a new Ducati motorcycle. I’ve wanted one of these bikes since 2002, when I visited the Ducati factory in Bologna, Italy, and watched the Italian workers assemble them. If you’re not familiar with motorcycling, Ducati is certainly one of THE bikes to own. Why? Well, it is an exotic Italian motorcycle, and certainly more rare than any Japanese-made bike. Also, Ducati’s history is legendary. They are responsible for creating soulful, fast, beautiful bikes, and for infusing the world of motorcycle racing with huge passion and excitement, as only Italians can do.

To be a Ducati owner, or, a “Ducatisti”, is something that many motorcyclists desire. And once you get one, you just instinctually understand why: You are riding not just a motorcycle, but also a piece of history. The bike just exudes Italian timelessness, flair and soul, and you can really feel it as the sounds and movements beneath you defy anything you may have previously experienced. It is breathtakingly fast. It is beautiful to behold. It has an exhaust note that is raw and throaty. Really special. When you’re riding it, you get the distinct feeling that this is a hand built bike, and furthermore, that everything you feel and see in the bike has been slowly and passionately created, honed and fine-tuned, not just on engineering paper, but in garages of yesteryear, by crazy Italians, cigarettes dangling from their bottom lips, trying to figure out how to make the fastest bikes.

The Ducati model I chose is the 2007 Monster S2R 1000 [shown]. It is considered a “naked” bike, meaning, it isn’t wrapped in coverings and panels and fairings like most Japanese supersport bikes. Ducati is credited with inventing the naked bike in the early 1990s, when they dreamed up the original concept. The Monster is a tough motorcycle, often categorized as a “streetfighter”. Yes, that word may be a bit much, but that’s actually the feeling you get when you ride it. You feel as if you could outrun any vehicle on the road, leaving them in the smoke of your rear tire, and actually, you can do just that because of the insanely intense acceleration and top speed capabilities of the bike. And speaking of acceleration, this bike will pull your arms out of their sockets if you twist the throttle enough, and you can expect the front wheel to loft off the ground in doing so. The torque is just stunning. Let’s just say that the good folks in the Borgo Panigale region of Bologna chose the correct name for this motorcycle.

As the model name implies, the S2R 1000 Monster is 1000 cubic centimeters in displacement. It has an air-cooled “L” twin engine--the cylinder heads set 90 degrees apart. Many consider this bike to be the ultimate Ducati, even though the company manufactures more powerful bikes. Why? Because Ducati’s heritage—and what made them famous—is the torque-intensive air-cooled twin engine. So simple, yet so potent. What does “torque” mean? Well, many bikes tend to spin up to their power “sweet spot” comparatively more slowly than others; that is, the power doesn’t really come on until you get closer to the RPM red-line, often at 9,000 or 10,000 RPM (engine Revolutions Per Minute). This means that they tend to be civil at low RPMs. The Monster, on the other hand, reaches its sweet spot at around 6,000 RPM, which means that even at lower RPMs, all the way up to its red-line, the bike has crushing accleration. And that is why Ducati motorcycles are some of the most exciting and awe-inspiring bikes made. Some even say that this particular Ducati, the Monster S2R 1000, is THE best Ducati ever. That’s really saying something, since the company builds bikes upwards of $85,000 in price, such as the Desmosedici RR MotoGP replica bike.

As I alluded to earlier, one of the great things about Ducati is the history and heritage of the company. In my opinion, there are few other motorcycle companies that match Ducati’s glittering history. And that is what makes owning a Ducati that much more special for me. Also, motorcyclists and non-motorcyclists alike really appreciate the bike too, even if they're not sure what it is. They know that it must be exotic, with such an intriguing, Italian-sounding name and that rosso red paint. Yes, there's no doubt, it attracts a lot of attention, like it or love it. In this last photo [above, right] taken one evening by one of the many paparazzi who follow me around, you can see me strolling to my bike amongst the stunned, gape-mouthed passersby, whom, I must add, I always greet warmly.

So my friends, if you get the chance, visit the Ducati website and take in the glory that is Ducati. There you can see the Monster bikes, as well as all of the other Ducati models. There is also lots about Ducati's worldwide racing efforts, which are quite vast. Finally, in the Heritage section, you can see great old photographs of the earliest Ducatis, as well as photos of the earliest days of motorcycle building and racing, when everything was so new and exciting…and dangerous. Bravo, Ducati! Grazie mille per tutto!

Thank you once again for reading Blogiorno. Ciao, a presto!