The Supervisory Boards of AUDI AG and Volkswagen AG approved the acquisition today in Hamburg, with Ducati soon to become the third Italian brand in Audi’s arsenal – joining Lamborghini and Italdesign.

If you’re wondering what possible synergies there are between Ducati and Audi, then you’re not alone.

Audi’s spokesperson talked about “..the progressive control systems and special combustion chamber process of Ducati engines, plus Ducati’s extensive know-how in lightweight construction offer great potential for AUDI AG and the Volkswagen Group.”

However most people see this as a ‘trophy purchase’ by VW chairman Ferdinand Piech, who has long wished to own the superbike maker and famously said that he wished he’d bought Ducati in 1985 when it cost “peanuts”.

Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Audi AG, said this morning: “Ducati is known worldwide as a premium brand among motorcycle manufacturers and has a long tradition of building sporty motorcycles. It has great expertise in high-performance engines and lightweight construction, and is one of the world’s most profitable motorcycle manufacturers. That makes Ducati an excellent fit for Audi.”

Ducati produces around 40,000 bikes per year, generating revenues of €480 million from a staff of 1,100 employees. The deal includes Ducati’s debts, which are estimated at around €200 million.

The company was founded by Adriano and Marcello Ducati in Bologna in 1926. Known originally as Società Scientifica Radiobrevetti Ducati, it initially built parts for radios.

It ventured into the manufacture of motorcycles in 1949 and now produces a full range of cruiser, supermoto, adventure, naked and superbikes.

Ducati has been actively involved in motorcycle racing for many decades through its racing division Ducati Corse, most notably in the MotoGP. Two-time world champion Casey Stoner delivered Ducati’s first MotoGP world championship, whilst current riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden are seeking to add to Stoner’s scorecard.

Created in 1988 by former rally driver Michèle Mouton, the only female WRC event winner, and Fredrik Johnsson, the Race of Champions has become the most eagerly-anticipated after party of the motorsport season. This year’s event, run on the 3rd and 4th December, returned to Dusseldorf’s ESPRIT Arena, the venue where relative newcomer Felipe Albuquerque took the overall ‘Champion of Champions’ cup in 2010.

Taking part this year were seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher, the reigning 2011 F1 title-holder Sebastian Vettel and a selection of the biggest names on two and four wheels including, Moto-X rider and rallycross driver Travis Pastrana, 2011 DTM champion Martin Tomczyk, Britain’s Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx, F1 drivers Vitaly Petrov, Timo Glock and Romain Grosjean and of course last year’s RoC Champion of Champions, the Portugese DTM driver Felipe Albuquerque.

Neil Cole interviews the irrepressible Travis Pastrana.

For the first time in ages, multiple WRC champion Sebastien Loeb was absent from the field, but in his place were three rising stars of rallying; Sébastien Ogier (Loeb’s Citroen WRC team mate in 2011), Jan Kopecký (2011 IRC runner-up for Skoda) and Juho Hänninen (Super 2000 WRC champion in 2011).

Naturally, the bookies’ favourite was Sebastian Vettel, the man who could do no wrong in F1 during 2011, clinching his second successive drivers title, but the field was more than adequately blessed with champions, including three F1 world champions, together with champions of DTM, X-Games, WTCC and Le Mans.

If you haven’t already seen the highlights, then I’ll not spoil the surprise by telling you who wins, but you can get up to speed by watching the official review video fronted by well-known TV presenter, Neil Cole.

In fact, that’s the real reason for this post, to draw your attention to Neil’s first column in ROAD magazine, appropriately named “Cole Position”.

Neil has been a familiar face on our TV screens during recent years, presenting the official WRC coverage on DAVE and live interviews at Race of Champion events. This time he provides an exclusive insight for ROAD readers into what it really feels like to muck around off-camera with the finest drivers in the world.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to you.

Neil has an on-camera chat with Michael Schumacher.

Race Of Champions 2011

I am standing in an underground car-park, shoulder to shoulder with Jenson Button, Andy Priaulx and Travis Pastrana – three men at the very top of their individual trees.

We are watching the live TV output of a race… a race taking place about 40 feet and several thousand tonnes of concrete, grass, metal and tarmac above our heads.

The camera cuts to an onboard shot of Tom Kristensen’s face – clearly visible in HD & an open-face helmet – wide-eyed, gurning and snarling as he fights a KTM X-Bow around a tight 1.2km parallel circuit. All four of us burst out laughing at the Le Mans’ legend’s extreme facial expressions.

“TK – you’re an ANIMAL!” says JB. (Initials are the usual abbreviation, just ask DC) and everybody laughs again.

This is the spirit of Race Of Champions. It has the feel of a millionaire’s stag weekend: yes, all the drivers are there to WIN, and to represent their sponsors and charities, but ultimately it is the closest we get to the Good Old Days of Motorsport where gentlemen drivers would walk out of the pub, stub out a cigarette, jump in the cockpit, spit on their hands and RACE.

Read the remainder of Neil’s article in ROAD 22: “Motorsport Monsters”.

Keep up to speed with Neil on Twitter – @neilcole and Facebook.

But the loss of this prodigious talent has been overshadowed by the disdainful reaction of some within the online world. Numerous editors, bloggers and forum users rushed to upload links to video footage of the accident and photos of the reaction of Marco’s family & girlfriend. What purpose does this serve?

During the last week, we have been bombarded with images of the final moments of Muammar Gaddafi. I can understand why it was important for the people of Libya to see that the former dictator was no longer a threat to their lives, and that those who supported his regime should understand that the fight was over: I don’t, however, understand why, three days on, we’re still seeing them.

Marco Simoncelli was a racer. Nobody needs to see the moment of his death. Nobody needed to fuel the morbid and tasteless fascination of others.

And yet some have tried to justify their actions by a moral obligation to convey the truth – unsantised. Whilst the truth is most certainly at the core of good reporting, so is decency. The decent thing to do is to send our thoughts and prayers to Marco’s family and friends and remember the talented rider who brightened our lives with his unrelenting enthusiasm.

RIP Marco.

CoolBrands is an independent process administered by the Centre for Brand Analysis to produce an annual barometer of the nations coolest brands, places and people. The end result is the CoolBrands Top 500, which is published in September each year.

We’ll take a closer look at 2010/11 winner Aston Martin in a separate article, but we thought it worth taking a look at which brands missed out.

As you can see from the list above, there are unsurprisingly plenty of British brands (Jaguar, Lotus, Range Rover, Mini, Bentley, Land Rover, Rolls-Royce and of course Aston Martin) but we think there are a few ‘glaring’ omissions..

Morgan

Morgan are one of the few independent car makers still in existence and they’re British too. Not only that, but they’re the only car maker to truly bridge traditional and contemporary style (even more so than Aston) and if you’ve ever driven a Morgan then you’ll find they’re a very social brand to wear too – everyone waves at you and each fuel stop is another opportunity to make new friends.

Morgan's four-seat EvaGT coupé broke cover at the recent Pebble Beach and Goodwood events, the EvaGT is capable of 40mpg and has CO2 emission of around 200g/km which in this day and age makes it very cool in our books.

Individual, classy and drop-dead gorgeous – surely that merits being considered cool? Morgan also have a number of spirited and successful race teams campaigning the GT3 Aero SuperSports in the FFSA GT Championship, so this is a British brand with real fighting spirit.

Morgan's SuperSport is based on the Aero8, powered by a 4.8-litre BMW engine producing 368 bhp. Imagine arriving in this at the annual Goodwood Ball, V8 engine throbbing away with thinly-veiled menace. Yeah, really uncool..

McLaren

If excluding Morgan from the index was an understandable omission (small brand, better known to enthusiasts) then missing McLaren off the list must be considered a major faux pas. What were they thinking?

McLaren's F1 is more than 20 years old and arguably has yet to be bettered in terms of its all-round speed and single-minded purity of purpose. We would argue that it is the coolest supercar ever made - way more so than any Lamborghini or Ferrari - a car that would earn nods of respect wherever it goes.

McLaren's second road car, the MP4-12C is due to be delivered to its lucky owners in early 2011 at a price which is likely to undercut a Ferrari 458 Italia. It's been showcased by two of the hottest drivers in the world - ex-F1 champion Lewis Hamilton and current F1 champion Jenson Button and is the most eagerly awaited supercar of the past decade. Now tell us that McLaren isn't a cool brand..

Citroën

Okay, we’ve talked about high-end exotica but what about something more affordable? Well in my mind the most improved brand in terms of coolness has to be Citroën. This is the brand that not long ago was making the Xsara and which put the ‘C’ into Chav (often seen driving their maxed out AXs with the whole car vibrating to the latest solid tunes. Innit Blad?).

But take a look at the Citroën range these days and you’ll find some of the most contemporary and stylish cars around, such as the DS3 or C5 Tourer and then of course there’s the concept cars. Surely a brand that has finally made the electric car cool, deserves a place in the CoolBrands Top 500.

Citroën's Survolt blends exotic looks with 100% electric-powered propulsion creating one of the most stunning concept cars of the moment. But it's not the first jaw-dropper from Citroën - in the past 12 months we've been treated to GQbyCitroën , the product of a partnership between Citroën and the style magazine GQ and of course GTbyCitroën, created to mark the launch of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. Still think Citroën is an uncool brand?.

Others

There are several other brands that perhaps should make the list. Fiat? They’ve certainly started a trend with the Fiat 500 and you might argue that their current partnership with music duo Faithless is testament to the coolness of the Italian brand, but we’d understand anyone who felt otherwise.

Maserati are also missing from the Top 500 and yet Alfa Romeo were included – and Alfa that’s cooler than a Maserati? We don’t think so.

If you’re a motorbike fan then you may be pleased to hear that brands such as Harley Davidson, Aprilia, Ducati, Kawasaki, Piaggio, Truimph and Vespa made the list, but Yamaha didn’t (ridden for the past 4 years in Moto GP by nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi).

You probably get the picture by now that we’re none too impressed with the quality of the CoolBrands Index when you look at the automotive sector, but maybe we’re wrong. What do you think?

This isn’t the first time di Montezemolo has openly expressed his love of the most recognisable face on two wheels and he is now banging the drum again to champion Rossi’s cause for a 2011 seat – should third cars be allowed in the regulations.

We want a third car and I would do everything to have Valentino. When he wins this year’s MotoGP, enough is enough, he must also win in Formula One.

It’s the usual heavy handed language we’ve come to expect from one of Italy’s most influential men, but you have to question whether there are any legs in this.  If we assume for a moment he wasn’t sounding off simply for column inches, then it’s interesting to work out the possibilities of such a move happening.  As di Montezemolo alludes to, Rossi has already won a mammoth nine titles and a tenth would be an astonishing achievement and a nice round figure to leave the motorbike world on.  One could also imagine Bernie Ecclestone would be well behind such a move with the buzz and hype and F1 likely hit fever pitch if Rossi joined a grid consisting of other famous racing names like Alonso, Hamilton and Schumacher.

However, third cars are likely to be hit with great resistance from the smaller teams.  Whilst the marginal cost of bringing a third car to races isn’t enormous by F1 standards, the points system in F1 is a major factor in the distribution of revenue at the end of the year and they would be loathe to jeopardise their ability to score points further by accommodating another fast car onto the grid.

Penny for your thoughts, Luca ...

Rossi has always started he wants to take up rallying after he hangs up his leathers, but could he be tempted into giving F1 a go?  Unlike Schumacher’s recent comeback, there would be no pressure on him to instantly perform well, though I wonder if Rossi would be comfortable in an unfamiliar environment where he isn’t considered the number one man to beat.

With Felipe Massa’s contract negotiations on ice and rumours of Robert Kubica catching the attention of those in Modena, it’s a busy time for Ferrari’s management.  The idea of an Alonso/Massa/Rossi super team is a mouth-watering prospect though.

The news comes as di Montezemolo announced he will step down as chairman of the Fiat group, having presided over a turnaround in financial fortunes in recent years.

Now Jorge Lorenzo has added further fuel to the controversy saying that his initial plan is to stay with the Japanese manufacturer, but hinted that he “can’t guarantee anything” for the future. Lorenzo was runner up to Rossi in the 2009 Moto GP championship, pushing Rossi hard throughout the season. Rossi recorded the fewest number of wins he has ever recorded in a title season, achieving six victories during 2009, just two more than Jorge and Casey Stoner.

The Spaniard who attended a recent press engagement in Barcelona, said that he sees his future – as least as far as the 2011 season is concerned – with Yamaha but couldn’t put his finger on anything just yet. Despite his most successful season in Moto GP, attempts to sign a contract with Yamaha beyond 2010 were unsuccessful with both Lorenzo and Rossi’s contracts running out at the end of next year.

Rossi has publicly asked Yamaha to take their pick for the 2011 season, or else there are other teams (i.e. Ducati) that would be happy to sign him. We expect this story to boil over during 2010, especially if Stoner, Lorenzo and Pedrosa push Rossi as hard as they did in 2009.

Then of course World Superbike champion Ben Spies joins the satellite Tech 3 Yamaha team next year and he’s already shown how quickly he can adapt from his performance in the final race of the season in Valencia.

With Honda’s Dani Pedrosa also reaching the end of his current contract in 2010, Lorenzo might also have a few more options to choose from himself in 2011.

Rossi was invited to experience some fast laps in the new M3 GTS, but in the end he wanted to drive it. The nine times MotoGP champion took to the Valencia track in the lightweight M3 GTS together with MotoGP boss Carmelo Ezpeleta in the passenger seat. Rossi was supposed to stop at the end of his first lap, but he decided to do another lap even more quickly.

Rossi was eventually prised out of the M3 GTS so that he could be presented with his M3 Saloon, but said, “It was amazing in the GTS. Just amazing. It was great, especially under braking with the light weight that it has.” In fact Rossi was already enquiring about how he could get hold of one for himself, but apparently there have already been more than 300 serious enquiries about the car since it’s launch three days ago.

Thomas Schemera, the Director of Sales and Marketing for BMW M Power who handed over the keys of the M3 to Rossi said, “It was our intention for Valentino to have a seat in the M3 GTS, but in the end he wanted to drive it, so he did! I think he is very convinced about the features and the abilities of the car and we would be very happy to let him have one of the hand built cars that echoes the iconic 3.0 CSL racer from the mid 70s.”

BMW will continue to supply Safety Cars, Official Cars and VIP Shuttles to the Moto GP series until 2013, using vehicles from BMW’s M Power stable.

Rossi finished 2nd in today’s Moto GP round in Valencia, followed home by team mate Jorge Lorenzo. Spain’s Dani Pedrosa won this final race of the 2009 season.

Photos courtesy of BMW & Moto GP.