Ducati rolled out its new 2010 MotoGP challenger in Italy yesterday (Wednesday).

The GP10, which features a revised Big Bang firing order, was unveiled at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort, with Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden and senior Ducati management cracking open the champagne to show off the new Marlboro-backed contender.

Ducati race boss Claudio Domenicali also gave brief insight into some of the changes on the new Desmosedici, which broke cover during winter testing at Valencia back in early November.

MCN Senior Road Tester Adam Child is currently testing MV Agusta’s brand new Brutale 1090RR against the reigning king of the exotic super nakeds, Ducati’s Streetfighter S, in Ducati’s own back yard – Bologna in Italy.

The all-new Brutale is the first new MV since Harley-Davidson’s takeover of the legendary Italian marque 18 months ago, and this is the first time the bike has been pitted directly against its leading rival.

The question is, has the fully revamped MV got enough to leapfrog the Ducati?

This is what Chad has to say so far:

“First impressions of the new MV are that it is really, really impressive – it may look very similar to the old bike but it’s actually very different: It’s larger, more comfortable and more user-friendly.

“Now, of the two, it’s the Ducati that feels the more radical, firm and track-orientated machine.

“They’re both bristling with exotica such as Brembo brakes, Ohlins suspension and full traction control systems, but where before, the Brutale was mouth-watering to look at but a pain to ride, now it’s just as mouth-watering but as easy to ride as a Japanese bike.

Toyota Motor Corp.’s top North American executive said Japan should open its cash-for-clunkers program to U.S. automakers — potentially adding pressure on the Japanese government to change a program that so far has left U.S. companies on the sidelines.

“We support that it will be allowed,” Yoshi Inaba, 63, president of Toyota Motor North America Inc., told the Automotive News World Congress Tuesday night in response to a question about opening up Japan’s program.

Inaba added, though, that he would leave the issue to the U.S. and Japanese officials who have been in talks on the topic for several weeks.
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Some 40 years after Parnelli Jones drove a Bud Moore-built Boss 302 Mustang to the Trans-Am championship, Ford Racing has unleashed a new Boss 302R.

The new Boss is an off-road-only Mustang that comes from the factory race-ready. Each of the limited-to-50 cars will come with a 5.0-liter four-valve V8 and six-speed manual transmission. The cars will be fitted with a roll cage, a race seat, a safety harness, data acquisition, race dampers/springs and a Brembo brake package. The base model sells for $79,000.

If you’re looking for a bit more, Ford Racing is offering a Grand-Am Homologation package that will allow the car to race in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (formerly the Koni Challenge) which opens its season Jan. 29 at Daytona.

This version will have a sealed high-output racing engine and upgraded cooling system, close-ratio six-speed transmission with integral shifter, a seam-welded body, a race suspension with Koni dampers, a race exhaust and a balanced one-piece driveshaft. This version stickers at $129,000.