Wednesday saw the official unveiling of Ducati's 2010
MotoGP contender, the Desmosedici GP10, at the Italian ski resort of Madonna di Campiglio.
After joining factory riders
Casey Stoner and
Nicky Hayden in revealing the design against the snowy backdrop of the Dolomites, Ducati Motor general manager Claudio Domenicali met with the press to discuss the main features of the machine.
Domenicali divided the main GP10 changes into two groups - those inspired by the new rules and those of a pure performance-enhancing value.
The big change in terms of the 2010 technical rules is the engine change limit, which restricts each rider to just six new engines throughout the 18-round season, to try and reduce maintenance costs.
Domenicali revealed that all of the Desmosedici's main internal parts had to be modified in order to triple the engine life - from one engine per race to one engine for three races - whilst reducing performance by as little as possible.
"The main changes to the bike are based on the rule changes, so the major part of the work was done precisely to make it perform better using only six engines for the entire championship,” he said.
“It's a very important difference, because we were used to using more-or-less one engine per race, so to switch from 18 engines to six is a very important adjustment. To go 1,600 kilometres with an engine that goes over 19,000 rpm isn't a simple assignment.
“All of the main parts were redesigned - pistons, rods, crankshaft, the basics. It's an engine with which our main objective was to minimize the loss of power to increase durability.”
Having an engineering background, some might expect Domenicali to regret the need to 'tone down' the
MotoGP prototypes. Instead, he appears to be in favour of the rules, which he thinks will help with production motorcycle design.