Alfa Romeo is extending its role in the two-wheeler world with two exceptional partners: SBK Superbike World Championship and Ducati Racing. As of this year, Alfa Romeo will be involved in all thirteen competitions (11 in Europe, 1 in Australia, 1 in Qatar) attracting growing audiences - both at race circuits (more than 1 million spectators) and at home (more than 2 billion viewers in 2006) - particularly in harmony with the sporting values expressed by Alfa Romeo.

At every race, the 23 SBK World Championship riders will be preceded by a Safety Car - the Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon TI (pastel black) - designed to catch the attention of a huge audience and backed up by a massive advertising campaign on the tracks themselves, in the Press and on TV. Such major visibility will involve the public at tracks as well as the distribution network and clients.

Alfa Romeo will be a leading player in the two-wheeler world with Ducati Racing this year, involving the MotoGP Grands Prix and champions such as Loris Capirossi (who was third in 2006) and Casey Stoner, as well as in Superbikes with riders Troy Bayliss, winner of the SBK World Championships in 2006, and Lorenzo Lanzi, an emerging and talented Italian rider.

For the Superbike World Championships, Alfa Romeo will achieve high-quality visibility thanks to Ducati Racing that in 2006 won the Constructors' Title and its riders who won as many as 12 races and took the podium 18 times. Success in 2006 for the very fast Ducati (5 pole positions) ensures high hopes once again this year for Ducati, ready for its debut with a new and exciting livery. Alfa Romeo will also be "on track" during warm ups and before every race in Superbike World Championship events including the Superstock 600 European Championship, the Superstock 1000 FIM Cup and the Supersport World Championship.

The presentation also saw the announcement that Alfa Romeo will be involved in the fifth edition of World Ducati Week, the huge meeting on the Adriatic Riviera in Romagna that attracts thousandsof bikers from all over the world. WDW 2007 will be held from Thursday 28 June to Sunday 1 July at the prestigious Misano World Circuit in Misano Adriatico (Rimini) - a perfect setting for celebrating the Ducati world.

Prior to this major international event, Alfa Romeo will also join Ducati during the upcoming DRE - Ducati Riding Experience - that for enthusiasts has always meant dream bikes, exciting circuits and professional instructors. Ducati Riding Experience aims to meet the various needs of motor-bikers - both learners and experts - by offering a huge range of driving experiences. Alfa Romeo will take part in this event to ensure additional emotions and rewards for the truly huge world of biking enthusiasts seeking to keep alive their sporting spirit.

New sponsorship projects were presented by Sergio Cravero, Marketing Director at Alfa Romeo, Dario Destefanis, Fiat Sponsoring Director, Paolo Alberto Flammini, Managing Director of FGSPORT, and Paolo Ciabatti, Superbike Director at Ducati Racing, with Ducati SBK riders Troy Bayliss and Lorenzo Lanzi in attendance.

The Alfa Romeo programmes include intense collaboration with SBK Superbike World Championship and Ducati Racing through to the end of 2008. This major acceleration in the racing competitions world has encouraged Alfa Romeo to create a specific signature embracing all its initiatives in the sector: this is the Alfa Romeo Motor Racing Team. Combining the Alfa Romeo logo with "Motor Racing Team" emphasises the strong team spirit underlying every partnership initiative.

Alfa Romeo will make its debut in the SBK World Championships as official sponsor, official car and Safety Car on 24 February 2007 at the Losail circuit in Doha, Qatar. Bridges, corners and the pit lane will highlight the Alfa Romeo "livery" and every market where races are held will see advertising spots during race broadcasts. All European events will also see the brand organise a VIP Area dedicated to guests, merchandising points and the possibility of organising test drives for spectators and Alfa guests. The SBK World Championship is an event covered by 94 TV stations involving total programming of almost 2800 Hours during the sport season.

Alfa Romeo on track

History means that Alfa Romeo enjoys strong racing links, especially in events where production vehicles are involved. Alfa Romeo owes much of its fame for fast and reliable vehicles to its numerous successes on circuits and roads all over the world - with strong roots, such as the first World Motor Racing title won in 1925. Since then, Alfa Romeo has reaped success after success - including the first two Formula 1 world titles and a long list of wins in international Tourism championships.

The last FIA World Tourism Championship season saw Alfa Romeo in contention for the drivers' title right through to the very last race with Brazilian pilot Augusto Farfus; the 2006 edition of the Alfa 147 Cup was won by Spanish driver Louis Villamil, while Italian Alessandro Bonacini took the Under 25 title. Alfa Romeo's track traditions will be confirmed once again in 2007 with the Alfa 156s and the N.Technology team in the FIA Tourism World Championships, while attention especially focuses on clients-drivers with the Alfa 147 Cup involving seven events with single or double leg races depending on the circuits. Several races will be held abroad and the championships will thus have a special international flavour. The "Marque" Trophy now at its fifth edition once again this year sees Alfa 147s with 2000 cc petrol engines and an updated aesthetic-aerodynamic kit.
 

This is the same set-up for the Alfa 147 Q2 JTDm versions making their debut in the second half of the season in the Alfa 147 Q2 International Cup. Both versions offer equivalent performances, despite using different fuels: petrol for the Alfa 147 and diesel for the Alfa 147 Q2 JTDm.

Alfa Romeo and sport: 2006 & 2007

2006 was a truly exceptional year for Alfa Romeo sponsorship projects. A year that saw even more intense activities, visibility and, especially, results. Early in the year, Alfa Romeo linked its name with the unforgettable Winter Olympics in Turin that ensured even more international visibility for the brand.

This was followed by targeted operations involving athletes coming to the fore on the international scene through their sporting results and great personalities - such as speed skaters Enrico Fabris and Marta Capurso - a relationship that has been recently extended to the entire Italian Ice Sport Federation. Enrico and Marta won important Olympic medals for Italy and held Italian prestige high by winning once again at the recent University Games in Turin.

And while Alfa Romeo raced with Ducati on tracks all over the world, another Alfa Romeo - the maxi yacht (30 metres) that for years has dominated regattas in both hemispheres - continued to leave rivals in its wake to win the Line Honours, the first to cross the line, from Portofino to Porto Cervo, from St. Tropez to Malta, through to the fantastic crowd in Trieste with Barcolana.

In 2006, Alfa Romeo never stopped sailing. When it was on-board the maxi yacht, it was with Luna Rossa as official team supplier. A long season of regattas in Valencia ensured that Alfa Romeo could talk with clients and media from all over the world, not only to present sophisticated and technological design objects - such as the Alfa Romeo bicycle, entirely in carbon fibre and titanium, or Italian taste and style through quality Alfa Romeo wines. The yachting season culminated at the end of October - yet has already swung into motion once again in January this year with the first Ski-Yachting Alfa Romeo Cup organised by the Cortina d’Ampezzo Yacht Club. 19 teams representing the most exclusive international yacht clubs took up the challenge on ski runs and virtual PC regattas - followed by awards made in the main square in Cortina.

Alfa Romeo will soon be in Senegal on-board a One Shot Alfa Spider, a small catamaran (6 m), hoping to set a new Atlantic crossing record to the Guadeloupe Islands. Ocean-going speed and lightness combining impressive "power". And once again to Valencia, from mid-April to early-July, where - together with Luna Rossa - there will be an impressive hospitality programme for international media and clients. At the same time, the Mediterranean and Northern Europe will see the Alfa Romeo maxi-yacht compete from April through to the end of October: Palma de Majorca, Saint Tropez, Genoa, Porto Cervo and especially the Fastnet Rolex Cup - the legendary 608 mile regatta held every two years that Alfa Romeo won in 2003.