DUCATI has just unveiled its 2015 Desmosedici GP15 MotoGP race bike.
The team’s official riders Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone pulled the wraps off the bike at the Ducati Auditorium in Borgo Panigale, Italy.
The GP15 will make its first track debut at the Sepang test from February 23-26.
“The Desmosedici GP15 that will make its debut in the next test in Malaysia is a completely new bike,” says Gigi Dall’Igna. “Different to the one we used two weeks ago in Sepang, even though certain aspects of the aerodynamics are quite similar. With the GP14.3 we have made some major progress with the software, which will be easy to switch over to the GP15, but also steps forward in the suspension, chassis and engine departments. The GP15 will start with the same settings as the GP14.3, but it will have many more possibilities for adjustment.” Ducati claims a maximum speed of “over 340 km/h (211 mph).” “Our aim this year is very ambitious,” says Dall’Igna, “because we want to win at least one race. We know that it is an extremely tough objective, but we are used to accepting the most difficult of challenges. Last year we said that we wanted to reduce the gap to the winner to less than ten seconds. This was also an ambitious challenge, but we achieved it in the second half of the championship.”
Andrea Iannone‘s GP15. “I have already established an excellent rapport with my team of technicians and mechanics, which enabled me to go immediately well with the Desmosedici GP14.3 in the recent tests at Sepang. Now we are back in action in Malaysia for the penultimate tests before the start of the season, and I’ll ride the GP15 for the first time, in the knowledge that at the start we’re going to have to work hard to make the bike competitive.” 
The Desmosedici GP15′s engine is a 90-degree four-cylinder with evo desmodromic valve actuation. Displacement is 1000cc, and Ducati claims “over 240” horsepower. The engine in the GP15 is rotated rearward in the chassis significantly compared to the GP14.
photos courtesy of Ducati
