Ducati Unveils Desmosedicis for Hayden, Dovi, Spies, Iannone
Henny Ray Abrams | January 15, 2013
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, ITALY, JAN 15 – The wraps came off the 2013 Ducati Desmosedici GP13s in a steady snow at the top of a mountain here in Madonna di Campiglio, with three different paint schemes showing a variety of sponsors and some missing on the second night of the Wrooom International Press Ski meeting.
The factory Ducatis of Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso were notable for their lack of sponsorship. Gone is big dollar sponsor Generali insurance, which is no longer backing the team. Also missing is energy concern Enel, Diesel, the clothing company, and AMG, the Mercedes specialist whose branding was removed from the machine once the Audi deal was completed. The team continues to be backed by Phillip Morris, though there’s been no tobacco branding for some time. And also by TIM, the cellular division of Grupo Telecom Italia.
Hayden went with his traditional number ’69,’ while Dovi switched it up by adding a digit to his number ‘4.’
The GP13 of Ben Spies showed the orange and white colors of Ignite Pramac Racing. Spies’ main sponsor is Ignite Asset Management. The Texan said this isn’t the final design, with his number ‘11’ expected to be enlarged before the start of testing. Teammate Andrea Iannone has a similar paint scheme for his team, Energy T.I., an Italian energy concern.
Henny Ray Abrams | Contributing Editor
Abrams is the longest-serving contributor at Cycle News. Over the course of his 35-some years of writing and shooting photos, he’s covered events from MotoGP to the Motocross World Championship - and everything in between.
