Ducati's new bike testing since February

Normally Ducati aim to get the next season's bike on track in April, but due to the GP8 being an evolution of the current championship-leading GP7, the Bologna squad have been able to get a jump on their normal time schedule.

Ducati's Technical project leader Filippo Preziosi said: "We are on the track with the GP8. We started in February on track with the GP8, but it's a small evolution.

"We don't know exactly what will be the GP8. We are testing many different things; some will end up on GP8, some not, but we will decide before July (2007)."

The GP7 was on track during early May 2006, something that Preziosi feels is related directly to their current championship-leading position in MotoGP.

Ducati's optimism to get the final details of the bike sorted out so early could lead to the team being in a position to race the bike at the end of this year.