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Sometimes rumors don’t take long to come to fruition. Take the case of the 2010 Ducati Hypermotard. Just last week we reported that Ducati had a 696 DS motor based babytard in the works, and today Ducati has officially announced that motorcycle. As we expected the new bike is named the Hypermotard 796, and it shares almost all of the same core design elements as its larger counter-part, including the bar-end mirrors (as we expected).

The biggest news with this release is that the Hypermotard 796 will live up to its name, boasting a 808cc displacement (88mm x 66mm bore & stroke respectively). Many had said the Hypermotard 796 would still feature the 696cc displacement dispite its nomenclature. Ducati instead stroked out the 696 motor, resulting in a comparable 81hp to the Monster 696, while boosting torque to 55.7lb•ft. More details after the jump.

Husqvarna has opened a new headquarters in Varese, Italy this week. The three-story building will include not only offices for the Husqvarna staff, but also will include a testing cetner, and production center for prototype and racing motorycles.

At home in Varese is Husqvarna’s development team, and the new HQ will include a presentation center and showroom for the team to show off their latest creations. Additionally, there is a small area that has been dedicated to top models and photographs from Husqvarna history, which may interest tourists.

One of the big criticisms of MotoGP is that it is all but impossible for satellite teams to compete against the factory supported squads. Besides having smaller budgets, satellite teams also have to contend with the fact that their machinery is many revisions behind what the lastest spec is, and in some cases they are relegated to using bikes from the previous season.

The end result of this practice is essentially the 2009 season, where the only riders on the top step were from factory teams (not counting the freak outing at Donington Park), and on any given Sunday, the same four riders are the day’s favorites. Honda however is set to change that in 2010, and is structuring its satellite teams on a pay-to-play basis.

There’s no doubt that Randy de Puniet has had an amazing season this year. Finding his rhythm, and staying out of the gravel traps has allowed the sometimes shirtless frenchman to carry the flag for the Honda loyal…all while on a satellite spec machine. It therefore comes as no surprise that de Puniet has seen his contract with LCR extended to next year, and as an added bonus, he will compete in 2010 with a higher spec RC212V.

Investing in emerging markets, Yamaha Motors is set to invest $150 million in a new motorcycle manufacturing plant located in Pakistan. The plant, which is to be established in the National Industrial Park at Bin Qasim, Karachi, will serve as a central location for Yamaha’s move into Pakistan, India, and other emerging Asian and African markets.

Just a few weeks ago, Brammo began rolling-out their program to sell Enertia electric motorcycles at Best Buy’s along the west coast. Most companies would be content to rest on this accomplishment and catch their breath, but not the folks in Ashland, Oregon.

Maybe it’s all that clean-air they’re breathing, or there’s something in the water; either way, we’re happy to report that in the nexy 60 days or so, you’ll see a new product announcement from Brammo, secretly dubbed “The Anti-Scooter”.

Arizona Motorsports Park, the $6 million, 155-acre, 16-turn, 2.23-mile racecourse outside of Glendale, Arizona, has won a crucial legal verdict from the Arizona Court of Appeals. The appellate court has ruled that the race track detrimentally relied on a permit provided by the county to build their facility, and is therefore entitled to continue using its property for racing events.

Those Italians over at MotoBlog have found the new 2010 Honda VFR1200 out in the wild doing some road testing. The sport-tourer, which will feature variable cylinder management, and a dual-clutch gear box, is found this time with matching red saddle bags, completing the overall tourer look of the motorcycle. If you parlo italiano, head over to MotoBlog, and check out the rest of their shots.