We already knew after Sunday’s race 2 at Portimao that after very intense last minute negotiations between Ducati, Althea Racing and Carlos Checa that the newly crowned World Superbike champion would be staying with the Italian team.
We also imagined that the 2011 Superstock champion Davide Giugliano would be switching to Superbikes as Bevilacqua had previously hinted at it and he gave the Giugliano a head start by having him debut in WSBK’s during the season’s finale at Portimao, where he finished 16th and 12thNow Althea has officially confirmed that they will field two bikes in 2012, with Checa and Giugliano at the helm of two Ducati 1098Rs.
“We have finally reached an agreement with Ducati that was very important for the continuation of our long term plans.
Things took a little longer than expected but fortunately we have resolved these problems in a very positive way, with the help of Ducati and the good sense of all involved,” said a relieved Bevilacqua.
“I hope this announcement clears up any doubts as I know some wrong information has come out in the press in recent days.
Everything is now in place and to be able to announce this at the end of the final race of the 2011 season allowed us to conclude an extremely memorable season, for us, for Ducati and for Carlos in the best possible way.
Now what we must do is continue to fight as we have this year, even more so as we will surely be penalized as far as weight on our bike is concerned.
We are extremely confident: Carlos and Davide are very determined, the team is more united than ever before and we are sure we can provide the riders with all necessary support.
“Particular thanks goes to Claudio Domenicali, and to Ducati for deciding to support our team in a difficult period such as this.
We will do our best to repay this trust, as we have done this season, as we strive to repeat the kind of success that sacrifice and passion have allowed us to achieve this year.
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