No GP12 unveiling at Ducati team launch

The centrepiece of Ducati’s lavish MotoGP team launch in the picturesque Madonna di Campiglio ski resort will be conspicuous by its absence this week.

The new GP12 Desmosedici will not be officially unveiled as expected during the annual Wroom ski event, which also sees Ferrari launch its 2012 Formula One effort.

Ducati senior management said it was never intended for the new bike to be unveiled during the spectacular Wroom event and that the first public sighting of the bike will come when Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden commence winter testing at the Sepang circuit in Malaysia on January 31.

Other sources said the reason for the bike not being presented to a select gathering of media was because deliberations are on-going about the final livery of the GP12, which will feature a conventional twin spar aluminium frame that was tested at the end of 2011 by Italian star Rossi.

Inevitably the surprise decision not to show off the GP12 sparked rumours that the final machine is still being finalised as Ducati looks to bounce back from a disastrous 2011 campaign.

Rossi and Hayden only scored one podium each last year and Ducati spent the entire campaign making radical technical changes to try and make the Desmosedici concept more competitive.

Details of the changes to the GP12 are expected to be outlined by Ducati Corse technical guru Filippo Preziosi when he takes part in a press conference tomorrow morning (Wednesday).