more images | Ducati UK 2000
2000 was the year that the MH900e became the first motorcycle to be sold exclusively on the Internet; its success led Ducati to establish itself as a major player on the Web by creating the Ducati.com website. The racing season closed with the ninth Superbike Manufacturers’ Title, despite the forced retirement of Carl “King“ Fogarty after a bad fall at the end of March. This was also the year that Ducati organised the first rider’s school for women and brought the Motogiro d’Italia back after many years; in mid-July, the company also celebrated the production of 100,000 Monsters since 1993.
In 2001, Troy Bayliss won the World Superbike Championship on the 75th anniversary of the company’s founding. Ducati Corse announced its intention to take part in the GP World Championships from 2003 onwards with their new Desmosedici engine. 2001 will also be remembered for the deaths of Bruno Cavalieri Ducati, the last of the three brothers who founded the company, and of Fabio “Dr. T” Taglioni, father of the 90° twin-cylinder engine, still the hallmark engine of Ducati motorcycles.
2002’s main event was the third WDW, the Ducati gathering which lasted for one week, but the year will also go down in history for the launch of the 999, “Bike of the Year” according to the British MotorCycle News magazine. On the racing front, the development of the Desmosedici engine forged ahead. In the World Superbike Championship, Ducati won its eleventh Manufacturers’ Title.
Finally, after three years of intense development efforts, in 2003 the Multistrada was on the road. This was also a special year for Ducati Corse with the return to the Grand Prix with riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi, along with the Desmosedici V4 engine. The results in this debut year exceeded all expectations with a second place overall in the Manufacturers’ classification. In the World SBK Championship, Ducati won the Riders’ Title again with Neil Hodgson, along with the Manufacturers’ Title.
In 2004, the new SportClassic family was yet another Ducati dream that became a reality. This year’s World Ducati Week, the fourth edition, exceeded the success of the previous years and on the Misano Adriatico stage, Federico Minoli, then president and CEO, announced the company’s next dream project: the Desmosedici RR, a limited-edition road replica of the amazing MotoGP motorcycle.
November 2005 saw the announcement of the the Hypermotard, set to begin production in 2007. In December, the controlling share holders of Ducati changed from TPG to the Italian company Investindustrial.
The new SportClassic family is yet another Ducati dream that becomes reality.
In 2006, the Desmosedici RR was launched at the Italian MotoGP in Mugello. The Superbike 1098, the successor of the 999, was also announced and voted "Best Design".
2007 has been an eventful year for Ducati, beginning with Gabriele Del Torchio becoming the new CEO in May, taking over Federico Minoli’s former position. In June, the WDW2007 took over the Misano Adriatico circuit once again for four days and set records of every type – over 50,000 people and 20,000 bikes. This is also the year that three new bikes were released with amazing success: the 1098, the Hypermotard and the Desmosedici RR. However, 2007 will be forever remembered as the year that Ducati took its first MotoGP World Title – the first in 33 years for an Italian company - won by Casey Stoner and the Desmosedici GP07 on September 23 at the Motegi track in Japan.
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