Valentino Rossi testing the 2012 version of the Ducati Desmosedici is usually big news, especially with the Italian moto-press. As the nine-time World Champion logs his laps on the GP12 at Italy’s Mugello circuit today, the bigger news is the other Ducati racebike sharing the track with the Doctor.

According to GPOne.com, Ducati is also testing its new 1200cc Superbike, the successor to the 1198R. Racer Danilo Petrucci, who currently sits second in the World Superstock Championship riding the Ducati 1098R for Team Barni, is reportedly riding the new racebike in both Superbike and Superstock variants.

Ernesto Marinelli, from Ducati Corse and currently Carlos Checa’s crew chief with Althea Ducati, is overseeing the Mugello test before hopping onto a plane for Utah for this weekend’s WSBK round at Miller Motorsports Park.

Checa will likely get his turn on the new Ducati Superbike soon while three-time WSBK Champion Troy Bayliss is also involved in the bike’s development.

[Source: GPOne.com]

During the MotoGP 250cc qualifying round in Mugello, Honda rider, Raffaele de Rosa pulls off an incredible save from disaster.  Do yourself a favor and watch the video clip after the jump.

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With the record setting MotoGP of Mugello finishing up this past weekend, Motorcycle.com takes a look at the high speed action on the track. Just as always, as Motorcycle.com continues to cover all the 2009 MotoGP racing news, The Sidecar stays focused on the tracks of this years Grand Prix season. Admittedly I don’t know that much about Italy. But What I do know, I like. I really like. Pizza, Spaghetti, Cappuccino, Ducati, Ferrari, Godfather 1, Super Mario Bros., the list goes on. Italy makes some great stuff! Now I have another reason to like Italia: Dani Pedrosa’s record setting 349.3km/h (217.1mph) top speed! Check out the track he did it on, keep reading. Continue Reading »