[Gareth]

Last night I got round to watching the Eurosport coverage of the 250 GP race from Sunday. During a quiet part of the race the commentators started discussing the "prettiest race bikes". As usual the old 999 doesn't look at good as the 998 discussion arose, at which point both commented that the "New Ducati will be interesting as it will be a hybrid in style between the 748 and the 999, and it is rumoured to be 1100 cc".

Anyone else picked this up? Whats the story, is there a new Ducati sports bike in the pipeline, other than the MotoGP rep?

Would be very strange to increase capacity if the bike is to be raced, 1100cc would put it out of contention for superbike racing.

I rewound the tape a couple of times to make sure I was not mishearing something, but wasn't.

When I was at the factory a few weeks ago, I saw the first of the Paul Smart bikes coming off the production line. At that stage I asked the Ducati guide what the plans were for the 999 and they told me that after the 2005 restyle that will be it for a couple of years. Having said that, I suppose if there were plans for a replacement they would hardly say much during a factory tour !