Ducati Racing profile: 1950 - 2002.

At the 2001 Spanish Grand Prix, Ducati announced its decision to contest the new four-stroke-based MotoGP World Championship, in 2003.

Founded by brothers Adriano, Bruno and Marcello Cavalieri Ducati in July 1926, Ducati first made its name producing radio transmitters.

By the start of World War Two the company employed 7000 employees and had expanded its range of products to include electric razors, intercoms, calculating machines, cameras and movie cameras.

In 1946 Ducati commenced manufacture of its first engine - the Cucciolo (Italian for 'puppy') four-stroke moped motor, used to power bicycles as Italy tried to get back on the road after the war.

By the seventies Ducati had become renowned for its range of v-twin (with L-shaped configuration) desmo sports machines that have won fans all over the world. Created by celebrated engineer Fabio Taglioni, Ducati's early 750GT and 900SS v-twins scored unforgettable successes in the Imola 200 and the Isle of Man TT.

In the late eighties the air-cooled, two-valve v-twins were replaced by a liquid-cooled, four-valve v-twin, designed by Massimo Bordi, which scored victories at Daytona and in the inaugural World Superbike event. The latest incarnations of this lineage - the 916, 996 and 998 Testastretta - have long been the dominant force in World Superbike.

Following the decision to extend its racing activities into MotoGP, Ducati initially considered creating an all-new v-twin prototype for the class, but engineers eventually opted for a V4, maintaining the marque's trademark 90-degree cylinder configuration and desmodromic valve actuation system.

The all-new Desmosedici V4 made its track debut in August 2002 at Mugello, Italy, ridden by Vittoriano Guareschi. Full-time MotoGP riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi joined the Desmosedici testing programme in November, the bike breaking its first lap record at Jerez, Spain, in December.

Ducati Racing:

1950
50cc Cucciolo establishes 12 speed records.

1951
100cc Cucciolo establishes 24 hour speed and endurance record.

1954
Ducati's most renowned engineer, Fabio Taglioni starts work with the factory.

1956
Taglioni-designed desmodromic 125 single wins non-championship Swedish GP with Gianni Degli Antoni. Subsequently, with the same bike, Sandro Artusi scores Ducati's first World Championship points at Monza.

1958
Ducati wins three 125 Grands Prix (with Alberto Gandossi and Bruno Spaggiari) and takes second in the 125 riders' and manufacturers' World Championships.

1960
Mike Hailwood scores Ducati's first 250 World Championship points, riding an inline 250 desmo twin.

1965
Taglioni designs inline non-desmo four-cylinder 125, but the bike is never raced.

1971
Ducati's first premier-class GP racer and first v-twin takes to the tracks. Briton Phil Read scores the desmo 500's first World Championship points at Monza.

1972
Ducati scores its most famous early success when Paul Smart rides a GT750 desmo v-twin to victory in the Imola 200.

1973
Ducati 860 desmo v-twin wins the Barcelona 24 hours with riders Benjamin Grau and Salvador Canellas.

1978
Former World Champion Mike Hailwood wins fairytale Isle of Man TT comeback aboard a 900SS F1 special, securing Ducati's first World Championship crown. In the States, future World Champion Freddie Spencer rides a 900SS to third in the Daytona 200.

1981
Ducati scores the first of four successive Formula 2 World Championships, with Tony Rutter riding a 600cc Pantah TT2.

1987
Former 500 World Champion Marco Lucchinelli scores the first success of Ducati's 'new era, riding the all-new eight-valve v-twin 851 to victory in the Daytona Battle of the Twins. This bike, its engine created by Massimo Bordi, is the forerunner of the legendary 916.

1988
Lucchinelli and the 851 win the first round of the inaugural World Superbike Championship at Donington Park, finishing the season fifth overall.

1990
Raymond Roche takes Ducati's first World Superbike crown aboard the 134 horsepower 888. American Doug Polen continues the factory's domination of the series with victory in the '91 and '92 championships. The following year Polen scores Ducati's first US Superbike title success.

1994
Ducati unleashes the 916 that wins the Superbike title at its first attempt, with Carl Fogarty on board. The Briton repeats the feat the following year, with Troy Corser securing Ducati a title hat-trick in 1996.

1998
Fogarty takes his third Superbike title aboard the 996 and backs it up with a fourth in 1999.

2001
Australian Troy Bayliss secures the marque's ninth World Superbike riders' crown with the 998 Testastretta. In May Ducati announces its decision to participate in the new MotoGP World Championship.

2002
Bayliss leads World Superbike Championship, finishing the year a close second to Colin Edawards after a thrilling finale.

The Australian then began testing of the Desmosedici, before being joined by new team-mate Loris Capirossi.

The V4 makes its public debut at November's season-ending Valencia MotoGP event, and breaks its first lap record the following month, at Jerez, Spain.