Ducati abandoned Grand Prix racing at the start of the 1970s, as the 500 class became dominated by two-stroke machinery incompatible with Ducati's four-stroke road-going technology. Technical rules changed in 2002, giving priority to four-stroke machinery and forming the MotoGP Championship; this convinced Ducati to return. Ducati's history is classically based on 90° V-twin (L-twin) engines using desmodromic valve technology. Rather than scale up a twin — which would have required over 17,000 rpm, creating combustion problems — Ducati settled on a V4 configuration: essentially two classic V-twins mounted side by side, with cylinders stroking in pairs (Twin Pulse). Design work began in 2001, and the bike was unveiled at the 2002 Italian GP at Mugello for use in subsequent seasons. Vittoriano Guareschi, Ducati Corse's test rider, followed every phase of the Desmosedici's development from early testing through to the project's evolution.
The Ducati Marlboro Team of Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss competed in all rounds of the 2003 MotoGP championship with the Desmosedici GP3. Capirossi stepped onto the podium at the opening round in Japan and won the GP Catalunya in Barcelona. He finished fourth in the championship; Bayliss sixth. Ducati placed second in the Manufacturers' standings.
The GP4 in 2004, again ridden by Capirossi and Bayliss, underwent major modifications; it became competitive only towards the end of the season, with both riders reaching the podium. For 2005 Bayliss was replaced by Spanish rider Carlos Checa. A collaboration agreement with Bridgestone allowed Ducati to contribute to tyre development; Bridgestone found that harder tyres suited the bike, enabling rear wheel spin for better traction. Capirossi won the Grand Prix of Japan at Motegi and the Malaysian GP at Sepang, while Checa scored two podium finishes.
Launched at the Italian ski resort of Madonna di Campiglio, the GP6 was a lighter and more powerful evolution of the GP5. Engine delivery was smoothed to improve rideability, making the bike quicker through corners despite a lower top speed. New rider Sete Gibernau joined Capirossi. The GP6 took its first win at the opening GP at Jerez de la Frontera, followed by a podium in Qatar, and Capirossi briefly led the championship.
At the Grand Prix de Catalunya in Barcelona, Gibernau braked too late and impacted Capirossi's bike, injuring both riders and forcing them to miss the Dutch Grand Prix at Assen. German rider Alex Hofmann replaced Gibernau for the Dutch, British, and Czech Grands Prix. After Gibernau was again sidelined for the Valencia finale following a collision with Casey Stoner, Ducati recalled Bayliss — recently crowned World Superbike champion. Bayliss won the race for his first MotoGP victory, with Capirossi second: Ducati's first 1–2 finish.
For 2007 MotoGP rules capped engine displacement at 800 cc. Ducati's racing chief Filippo Preziosi noted that by August 2006 Ducati had already built twenty 800 cc engines with various specifications. An early GP7 was first track-tested in May 2006. Public testing began at Brno, where Capirossi's prototype GP7 lap times were only 1.4 seconds off his own track record set on the 990 cc GP6. Further testing at Motegi showed the 800 cc machine could run faster laps than the higher-displacement bikes, holding nearly a second advantage over the next fastest 800 cc bike — a Honda ridden by Dani Pedrosa.
Casey Stoner won the opening race of the 800 cc era at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, setting a new track record. Valentino Rossi acknowledged the Ducati's top speed advantage, stating "unfortunately, there was too much difference between (our) bikes in the straight." Stoner won the world championship at Motegi on 23 September 2007, four races before the end of the season, on Bridgestone tyres.
The GP8 was an update of the GP7, first tested in February 2007. Frame rigidity was altered to reduce chatter, and suspension geometry was modified to address a "pumping" effect. In race trim it recorded an official top speed of 343.2 km/h (213.3 mph) at the 2008 Chinese motorcycle Grand Prix. The GP9, Ducati's 2009 entry, featured a distinctive carbon fibre chassis — a departure from Ducati's traditional steel trellis frame and at the time unique among MotoGP teams. The GP10, introduced on 15 January 2010, concentrated development on engine longevity within new engine-use restrictions and improved rideability. It also introduced a big-bang firing order for the first time since the switch from 990 cc to 800 cc.
The GP11, introduced on 12 January 2011, was raced by Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. The GP12, unveiled on 19 March 2012, accommodated new displacement standards of up to 1,000 cc and was also raced by Rossi and Hayden.
The GP16 was unveiled in February 2016 and raced by Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone. Ducati described it as an evolution of recent challengers; it remained the fastest bike in a straight line. At the Austrian Grand Prix — the 10th round — Ducati dominated every session. Iannone qualified on pole, and on the last lap out-braked Dovizioso into the penultimate corner to take his first MotoGP win, the first MotoGP win for Ducati or any manufacturer other than Honda or Yamaha since Stoner's victory at the 2010 Australian Grand Prix. Dovizioso finished second for the first Ducati 1–2 since the 2007 Australian Grand Prix.
At the 17th round at the newly resurfaced Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, Dovizioso took pole in wet conditions. Iannone briefly led before crashing, and Dovizioso held on for his first Ducati win and his first win of any kind since Donington Park in 2009 with the Repsol Honda Team.
In 2006 Ducati produced a short run of 1,500 street-legal variants of the Desmosedici, called the Desmosedici RR, first delivered in early 2008.
In early 2021 Ducati rider Johann Zarco set the highest trap speed record in competition practice on the Desmosedici.
This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.
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