Winning International Bike of the Year underlines the fact that Ducati has made a world-class motorcycle with the 1098. The tough choices were made when defining numbers two and three. Triumph won the IBOTY title last year with its Daytona 675, and the British manufacturer was again able to impress journalists worldwide with the naked Street Triple. In third place we find for the first time a three-way tie: Honda CBR600RR, Yamaha YZF-R1 and Ducati 1098S .

With the 1098 in IBOTY's top spot, 1098S in a shared third place, the DesmosediciRR in sixth and the Hypermotard in seventh, it's clear that Ducati has only won several world titles in racing in 2007 but also the hearts and minds of journalists worldwide.

The Italian two-wheeler maker Ducati has finally forayed into India with its superbikes. The company on wednesday announced the launch of five motorcycles priced in the range of Rs 15 lakhs to Rs. 50 lakhs.

"We will be launching four different models in multiple variants. These bikes will be available starting at Rs 15 lakh to Rs 50 lakh in the Indian market," said Ashish Chordia, Chief Executive Officer of Precision Motor India Pvt Ltd, sole distributor of Ducati bikes in India.

The company will import a total of 60 units for this year, from it manufacturing plant in Italy.