During the official presentation of the Ducati 1098 R, which took place this week at the Spanish track in Jerez de la Frontera, Team Ducati Xerox have unveiled the new livery of the Ducati 1098 F08 that will participate in the World Superbike Championship. The new 1098 F08 is directly derived from the 1098 R and has been developed as a result of the new World Superbike regulations that allow for both 1200cc two-cylinder machines and 1000cc four-cylinders to line up on the grid together for the first time.
Troy Bayliss tested Ducati's 2008 World Superbike challenger, the 1098 F08, for the first time yesterday and today at the Vallelunga circuit near Rome. Although two-times WSBK champion Bayliss had done a couple of demo laps during the 2007 edition of World Ducati Week at Misano in July, this was the first time that the 38-year-old Australian has ridden the bike in anger. The testing programme saw Troy Bayliss share the riding duties on the new F08 machine with Ducati Corse test-rider and the Ducati Xerox Junior Team's Superstock rider, Niccolò Canepa. The F08 has already been put through a series of shakedown tests by the young Italian in the last few months, but it is still at an early development stage and the riders were not aiming to set any quick times.