[Rod]

Hot off the press from Italy comes this info on the forthcoming 1098 models:

Ti posso dire che base ed S avranno lo stesso motore,
al limite l'S avrà le bielle in titanio.
L'R sarà 1200 e sarà la base per la SBK.
I motori , sia il 1099 che il 1200 , non saranno un 'testastretta' con cilindrata aumentata ma saranno una vera e propria evoluzione del testastretta.
Sono stati completamente riprogettati,
con carter piu' piccoli e tante altra cose nuove.
Foto ancora non ne circolano.....

Loosely translates as:

I can tell you that the base and S models will have the same engine,
at least the "S" will have titanium conrods.
The "R" will be 1200 cc and will form the basis of the WSBK contender
The engines, solely the 1099 rather than the 1200, will not be a "testastretta" with oversized bores but will be a true and complete evolution of the "testastretta"
They have been completely redesigned with smaller ***** and many other new features
No photos are in circulation as yet

Sorry the ****** (carter) word in the above text, I am unable to translate as I don't know what it means. There is a limit to my Italian you know!


I know this is but a snippet of information but it does leave us a few more clues. One other bit of info I picked up was that the Tri Colore version will be solely a tricked up version of the "S" model and that the "R" will be a true 1200cc and will not be available until 2008, unlike the 1098 range (which should hit the UK showrooms in Feb/March 2007), since it's release is timed to coincide with it's introduction into WSBK and the AMA championship (Ducati will not be competing in the US in 2007). Likely as ever Ducati will probably change the 1098 range in 2008 again to be 1198 base and 1198S to keep in line with the 1200R. As for the Tri Colore model...who knows!!