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An amalgamation of three already existing Ducati models, there is nothing surprising about the Ducati Streetfighter 848. A pick-and-pull creation from the Ducati engineering bay, the Streetfighter 848 draws upon the precedence defined by the Ducati Streetfighter 1098, the Ducati Superbike 848, and the Ducati Multistrada 1200.

A mirror image of the more well-endowed Streetfighter 1098, the Streetfighter aesthetic has been in the public eye since its Milan unveiling in 2008. Like its predecessor, the Streetfighter 848 is based off its Superbike counterpart, and shares the six-year old Ducati Superbike 848’s chassis geometry and namesake. At the heart of the baby Fighter is an 849cc Testastretta 11° engine, and as the name implies, the motor features the same power-smoothing 11° valve overlap architecture that first debuted on the Ducati Multistrada 1200, and has since carried forth with the Ducati Diavel.

We have seen before all the elements that comprise the 2012 Ducati Streetfighter 848, and indeed there is nothing revolutionary about Ducati’s latest street-naked, so it begs the question: is the Ducati Streetfighter 848 merely the sum of its parts? Or is it something more? Continue onward as we explore that question further.

Since we are out in the Palm Desert testing the 2012 Ducati Streetfighter 848 today, we figured we might as well post a bevy of photos of the tiny Fighter. Coming with Ducati’s traction control system (DTC), and an 848cc/132hp version of the Testastretta 11° engine, the Streetfighter 848 promises to be more than just a smaller version of the original specimen. Other changes include a refined chassis as well as the infamous Ducati wet clutch, which some say is better than the company’s iconic dry-clutch design (gasp!). While we put the Ducati Streetfighter 848 through its paces today, and see if all these rumors are true, enjoy the 40+ photos we have for you after the jump.

Things will be a little slow on Asphalt & Rubber today, as we are in the Palm Desert testing the new Ducati Streetfighter 848. We’ll be spending most of the day playing with its revised chassis & traction control, and getting used to the baby Fighter’s wet clutch & Testastretta 11° engine. You can follow our thoughts on the bike live via Twitter, and our last five tweets will automatically display here on this post.

More reports are starting to surface about Audi’s pending purchase of Ducati Motor Holding from Investindustrial. Said last month to have offered the private equity firm somewhere in the neighborhood of €750 million, Reuters is now reporting the figure to have been closer to the €870 million to €875 million range, which is closer to the original rumored offer of €850 million by the German automaker. What is most interesting in the report by Reuters is the notion that Audi is not making an offer to buy all of Investindustrial’s financial position in Ducati Motor Holding, which accounts for about 70% of the company.

According to Italy’s Correrie di Bologna, the Volkswagen Group has made a €750 million bid on Ducati Motor Holdings. Just shy of Investindustrial’s reported €832 million asking price on the Italian motorcycle manufacturer. Reports are also saying that Volkswagen’s due diligence process has uncovered that Ducati has less debt on its books than previously thought (previously rumored to be in the €200 million range), and that the €750 million offer would nearly double  Investindustrial’s initial purchase price of the Italian company.

Said to have until the middle of April to make an offer, the Volkswagen Group’s current proposal is lower than the €850 million originally rumored earlier this month. Despite it being less than Investindustrial’s initial valuation of €1 billion, the deal is said to be close to finalization, with Italian politicians and union members weighing in on the prospect of German involvement with the Italian brand.

With testing concluded at Jerez, the MotoGP paddock has just two short weeks before the opening round at the Losail International Circuit is underway. Heading into Qatar, there are few surprises from last season though, as the Honda of Casey Stoner continues to dominate the time sheets, while teammate Dani Pedrosa and top-Yamaha man Jorge Lorenzo trail closely behind.

Yamaha’s package looks very refined and balanced, and appears to have gained a step on the Honda machines. This should make for more interesting racing moments, where the more balanced Yamaha YZR-M1 will excel at certain tracks, while the more powerful Honda RC213V will shine at others. Also coming more into play will be the strengths and weaknesses of Honda and Yamaha’s top riders, whose particular track preferences could be the x-factor at some of the races.

Still at best, MotoGP is shaping up to be a three-man show, with maybe Ben Spies and some other riders occasionally mixing the order of things up. This statement is of course a direct reflection on the progress of Ducati Corse, which despite having made improvements to the Ducati Desmosedici GP12, is not really any closer to making up the difference to the front of the pack. Now using a completely revised aluminum frame, the team still seems to be struggling to find a starting point from which to build from, and in the process they have killed enough spare parts to start a pick-and-pull MotoGP junkyard.

Much has been speculated about the alleged Ducati 799 Superbike that surely is being planned in Borgo Panigale this very minute. Connecting the dots with the Italian company’s product roadmap, Ducati surely has a smaller-displacement version of its 1199 Panigale in the works, though what it will be called and what displacement it will use is still the subject of much conjecture. Today Oberdan Bezzi takes us back down that thought process with his Ducati 798 Desmosport R concept.

A supersport-market model, Bezzi’s focus is not with the water-cooled 1,200cc Superquadro motor, but the tried and true DesmoDue air-cooled lump currently found in the Hypermotard and Monster lines. Looking for a €9,000 price point, 100hp power figure, and 365 lbs dry weight, Oberdan Bezzi is striking the same vein that Radical Ducati and NCR have been touching on for the past few years, albeit at different ends of the price spectrum.

We have shown pornography CAD renders of the Ducati 1199 Panigale sans fairings before, and immediately heard office doors around the nation close shut while trousers were ruined. Showing off its frameless chassis design, the Ducati 1199 Panigale is perhaps one of the most intriguing motorcycles to see without its bodywork.

Perhaps losing some the elegance of previous Ducati models when naked, there is very little free room between the Panigale’s 1437mm (56.6in) wheelbase. With the Tetris-style fitting of pieces together into the Panigale’s monocoque frame, there can be little speculation as to why the 1199 features such a large and comprehensive fairing.

That being said, when the Ducati 1199 Panigale is in the buff, it makes for some good art. But just remember: every time you masturbate, God kills a kitten. Please remember the kittens as you click through to the full-size photos after the jump.

Unveiling the 2012 Ducati Desmosedici GP12 online today, Ducati not only gave us our first glimpse at the Ducati Corse team livery, but the Italian race team also “disclosed” the technical specifications of its MotoGP race bike. Of course the details are rather plain and vague, as not to give too much away, but there are some interesting things to point out. Producing 230+ hp and weighing 157 kg (346 lbs) dry, the GP12 is no slouch on paper.

Retaining the same 90° piston configuration, the V4 desmodromic motor has clearly been rotated backwards, as was rumored. This change is evidenced by the singular and solid radiator grill at the front of the fairings, and would allow Ducati Corse to move the engine’s center of mass back and forth in the chassis to a greater degree. Speaking of chassis, the 90% new factory GP12 features an aluminum twin-spar frame, which was designed by Ducati Corse and rumored to have been built by FTR.

This Desmosedici GP12 “Phoenix” chassis design will be exclusive to the Ducati Corse factory team in MotoGP for several races, with satellite teams likely to get the updated chassis design about a third of the way into the season. This means that satellite Ducati riders, like Karel Abraham, will use the Desmosedici “GP0” design that debuted at the Valencia test after the conclusion of the 2011 season. It has certainly been a long road for Ducati in MotoGP this past season, and now we will see if all the hard work will pay off for the Italian company. Technical specifications and a couple videos are after the jump.

Unveiled online today, here are the first pictures of the 2012 Ducati Desmosedici GP12. Unsurprisingly using a twin-spar aluminum frame, instead of the carbon fiber chassis found on the GP11, perhaps the biggest change for fans who have been following the GP12’s development is the new tri-colore paint scheme, which is visually very similar to the design of the Ducati 1199 Panigale Tricolore.

Getting hip to this whole internet fad, Ducati Corse made its 2012 season launch live on Facebook, hosted by team sponsor TIM. With 96,000 fans connected to the video stream, it’s arguably the most public launch of a Desmosedici to date, and the subject of social media was a hot topic for the unveilings Q&A session (including some insight into Nicky Hayden’s accidental leaking of the Ducati Streetfighter 848). We’ve got a bunch of hi-res studio shots after the jump, along with some photos from the live unveiling.