Ducati unveils new 2013 MotoGP contender

This is the new Ducati GP13 Desmosedici machine that the Bologna factory hopes will help it bounce back from a nightmare two-year spell with Italian icon Valentino Rossi.

The new bike was unveiled by Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort tonight and was revealed in a dual launch with Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone also showing off their new Pramac Ducati Desmosedici machinery.

Although it is branded the GP13, the bike remains largely the same spec as the one that finished a hugely disappointing 2012 season in which Rossi struggled to score just two top three finishes in Le Mans and Misano.

Hayden meanwhile lost his proud record of scoring a podium in every year he’d raced in MotoGP since his debut with Repsol Honda back in 2003.

Dovizioso and Hayden both confirmed that the bike they will test in Sepang next month will be virtually identical to the spec they briefly assessed in a rain-hit post race test in Valencia in mid-November.

Further details on the GP13 will be given by new Ducati MotoGP boss Bernhard Gobmeier in a special press conference tomorrow (Wednesday). The former BMW World Superbike boss has taken charge after long-serving Ducati boss Filippo Preziosi was removed from Ducati Corse after a woeful spell with Rossi.

In a short welcome speech before Dovizioso and Hayden gave their thoughts on 2013 earlier today, Ducati CEO Gabriele del Torchio said: “Last year our sporting activity did not go well. We have suffered throughout 2012 but our motto is to never give up and to look with trust into the future.”