Ducati's 'most advanced twin' enters Supersport.

2004 will see Ducati return to the World Supersport class - with a factory presence - for the first time in three years, where the Bologna based company's new 749R will take on Honda's championship winning CBR600RR - plus Yamaha's YZR R6, Suzuki's GSX-R600 and Kawasaki's ZX-6RR.

The last time Ducati Corse officially took part in WSS was 2000, when Paolo Casoli and Ruben Xaus won three races with the 748, and its return adds further prestige to what was already one of the most competitive world championships around.

The rider chosen to spearhead Ducati's return to the Supersport arena is Italian Lorenzo Lanzi. The 22-year-old steps up from European Superstock, where he finished runner-up in 2003.

"In our opinion Lorenzo has great potential," enthused team director Paolo Ciabatti. "Last year he did extremely well on the Ducati 999S Superstock, and we should consider that it was his first time on a four-stroke machine.

"We know that the Supersport championship has a very competitive field of riders and bikes, but we are sure that our 'package' is good and that the results will come soon."

Ducati Corse managing director Claudio Domenicali revealed that he considers the 749R to be the most advanced twin-cylinder Ducati has ever produced. Quite a claim from a company that has given the world machines such as the World Superbike winning 998 and 999 range.

"We tried to include into the production bike all the features that we thought it would need directly for racing, and most probably the 749R is the most advanced twin-cylinder bike ever built in the company," declared Domenicali.

"Racing is in our DNA and the 749R is in our sportsbike product range so in a way it was a natural decision for us to go Supersport racing," he added. "Our fans were waiting for us to race the 749R, so here we are and we will try to do the best possible this year and develop the bike further with the aim of running a two-rider team in 2005."

The 11-race World Supersport Championship schedule, run on the same programme as World Superbike, kicks off with the opening round this coming weekend at Valencia, Spain.