With exciting new bikes, including the 848, Monster 696 and the 1098R, and with the MotoGP title in the bag, Ducati is at EICMA 2007 in Milan this week celebrating a very successful year.

After the success at the MotoGP with Casey Stoner, the Bologna-based Ducati has captivated everybody’s attention at the EICMA 2007 motorbike show in Milan with the Monster 696, the completely new version of the legendary Naked. There was also the R version of the 1098, the ready-to-race bike that should allow Troy Bayliss to win the 2008 Superbike title and the 848 that replaces the 749. It has a similar line as its predecessor but has a 134 hp engine and weighs 20kg less than the 749. Finally Ducati also unveiled the final version replica version of the Desmododici RR, the bike used so successfully on the track, and the Monster S4R Tricolore and Hypermotard 1100 S, which was recently seen at the Paris show.

The smile on Gabriele Del Torchio’s face said it all after another intense year for the Ducati CEO. “2007 has been a fantastic year. We won the MotoGP title track with Casey Stoner and as best team and we won the Superstock world title with Niccolo Canepa with a virtual standard model bike. On the business side we reduced our debts, our turnover increased by 44% and we sold more than 40,000 motorbikes for the first time across all our markets. We couldn’t have hoped to do better and yet 2007 will be remembered as turning point as we look towards 2008 with optimism. The world title has earned us an invitation to see the Italian president and prime minister. We’ll meet President Napolitano and Prime minister Prodi on November 15 and then on December 1 and 2, we’ll hold our own party in Bologna.”

Claudio Domenicali, responsible for Ducati products, was also very satisfied because the 1098 presented last year has sold extremely well and helped lift the profile of the Italian company all over the world. “In the next few years we’ll present 11 new bikes, three new models and 8 redesigns. The first new bike is the Monster 696 which is more compact and technologically advanced thanks to several solutions taken from Stoner’s MotoGP bike. Of course it has the traditional look of a Ducati monster, a perfect mix of sport and quality.

However Ducati's involvement at EICMA 2007 kicked off on Sunday. Casey Stoner did not win the final MotoGP race of the season in Valencia on Sunday but the Ducati fans and dealers celebrated anyway at EICMA 2007 in Milan, raising their glasses to a great season. CEO Gabriele Del Torchio and Sbk manager Davide Tardozzi invited pilots Troy Bayliss and Niccolò Canepa (Stk 1000 world champion) onto the stage in the Fiera Milano Auditorium to commentate during the final race of the season in front of selected dealers from all over the world. There was a lot of applause for the world champion and Ducati pilot Stoner, for 2008 pilot Marco Melandri, and for Loris Capirossi who again showed his determination on the track.

Stoner then took half a day off from post-race testing in Valencia to make a secret and private visit to the EICMA 2007 on Monday. Not even the world champion wanted to miss the show. Just 22 years old, the Australian phenomenon won ten MotoGP races in 2007 but most of all dominated the season on his GP7, proving everybody in the world of two wheels that the rider who raced and crashed so often last year, had matured into a champion. While at the show Stoner met with the Ducati management (including CEO Del Torchio), and president of the Italian Confindustria industrial association Alberto Bombassei, vice-president Ancma Guidalberto Guidi, the director general Costantino Ruggero and former Olympic cycling champion Silvio Martinello, who is organizing the Bike4Show bike track racing during this year’s EICMA show.