Ducati MotoGP launch - Today!

Ducati will become the first manufacturer to hold a 2018 MotoGP team launch when reigning title runner-up Andrea Dovizioso and former champion Jorge Lorenzo present the GP18 in Bologna later today (Monday).

As ever, it remains to be seen how closely the bike on display will technically resemble the machine that appears on the starting grid in Qatar, especially with the three pre-season tests yet to start.

But the launch will provide the first look at the official 2018 livery, while riders and team management preview the season ahead. The factory is also likely to face questions about rumours Francesco Bagnaia will move to MotoGP with Pramac in 2019.

Overlooked during winter testing and the early part of last season, Dovizioso delivered a stunning six race wins, forcing a final round title showdown with Honda's Marc Marquez. It was a Ducati rider's best season since Casey Stoner won the 2007 world championship.

Lorenzo joined Ducati after spending all nine previous MotoGP seasons at Yamaha. The Spaniard took an early podium at Jerez and became an occasional victory contender once Ducati fitted its new downforce fairing, in Brno. He finished seventh in the standings, with three rostrums.

For 2018, the team are again targeting an improvement in mid-corner turning and speed, their last remaining weakness, which saw no Ducati finish in the top ten at Phillip Island.

Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna said he believes it is a chassis issue and parts of the GP18 were tested by Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Pramac's Danilo Petrucci at Valencia and Jerez in November.

"The bike has some real strong points and some other points, like the middle of the corner, where we struggle a little bit," Dall’Igna explained. "We have some ideas and we have to test [in Valencia and Jerez] something that could reduce at least this problem.

"So for sure we will work on all aspects of the bike [for 2018] - including the engine, electronics, even if there we are quite strong in those areas.

"But our main focus will be the middle of the corner because we have to improve. Above all, in two races [Phillip Island and Valencia] we struggled quite a lot for that problem and so we would like to do something.

"I think the main problem [with turning] is the chassis."

But as ever in mechanical design, the difficult part is to improve a weakness without reducing a strength.

"Normally if you do something to improve the braking, maybe you create some problems or reduce the confidence of the rider in the middle of the corner. And vice versa," Dall’Igna said.

"So this is the real question: How to solve the [turning] problems without destroying the strong points that the bike has at the moment. We have some ideas…"

Dovizioso, Lorenzo and Petrucci will ride their new machine during the opening official 2018 test at Sepang from January 28-30. A private test will be held just before, when Ducati will again call upon Casey Stoner.

A live stream of the launch, set to start at 10:30am CET, can be seen below: