While fans were shocked when they heard that Ducati would be pulling out their World Superbike factory team in 2011.
Infront Motorsports, the rights holder to the World Superbike Championship series may have been disappointed but they weren’t completely surprised despite stating so in their press release (after the jump).
Ducati Corse had been threatening a pull out and was pushing for a change in the regulations in 2011 and were to meet at the upcoming Nurburgring round to further discuss the situation, demanding the removal of the air restrictors from the twin-cylinders 1200cc and a rpm limitation that would help reduce costs, but apparently they knew that the Flammini brothers and the other teams would not approve of more rule concessions that would favour the Italian manufacturer again and they decided to jump the gun than wait for another no.
Ducati will now concentrate on a new series of sport bikes and their new racing machine that should mount the new short-stroke ‘Superquadrata’ engine should debut in 2012 and the first version has already been spotted (sorry guys, no pics yet) at the Nardò circuit in Puglia that belongs to Pirelli.
After the jump the Infront press release and what the other WSBK team managers had to say about Ducati’s pull outInfront Press ReleaseInfront Motor Sports has learnt with disappointment of Ducati’s decision not to participate with a factory team in the 2011 FIM Superbike World Championship.
The Borgo Panigale manufacturer has built a large part of its history and reputation on the back of its wins in the world championship for production-based bikes, in which it has taken part since the very start and in which it has obtained 16 Manufacturers’ and 13 Riders’ titles with its strictly twin-cylinder production models.
As recently as last year Ducati was fighting for the championship title right down to the final round of the season at Portimao, proving the outright competitiveness of its flagship model, the 1198, and demonstrating the extremely well-balanced nature of the current technical regulations.
“We are disappointed and also a bit surprised at Ducati’s decision,” declared Paolo Flammini, CEO of Infront Motor Sports, “especially since we have been asked numerous times for a change in the regulations to bring about a better balancing of twin-cylinder 1200cc machines towards the four-cylinder 1000cc bikes, but it must be mentioned that last year, without the presence of a phenomenal Ben Spies, the Ducati 1198 would have dominated the championship with Haga and Fabrizio, and it is therefore difficult for us today to comprehend this decision, which of course we must respect.
Moreover the FIM Superbike World Championship can today boast the participation of six manufacturers in addition to Ducati, with Aprilia, BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha and is therefore obliged to maintain a total balance in the regulations, without privileging one or other manufacturer in particular.
We are however pleased that Ducati has confirmed its technical support for private teams that will be competing with its models in the 2011 championship and that the development of its new generation of hypersport bikes, in both homologated and Superbike race versions, will continue.
”Quotes from other team managers:BMW- Davide Tardozzi (former Ducati team manager)“I am very sorry that such a capable and successful team will no longer be competing.
On an emotional level, I disagree with the decision to withdraw a team made up of exceptional men, all blessed with an incredible winning mentality.
It is unlikely they will be able to continue working together, and this is also a shame.
A piece of Superbike is disappearing.
If I was still with Ducati I would have done everything humanly possible to avoid this decision.
”Aprilia – Gigi Dall’Igna:“I am a little bit sorry that Ducati will no longer be there but I am convinced that the support provided to the private teams will be significant, and so the loss of the factory team will have little effect on the technical aspect.
Aprilia were not competing in 250’s with a factory team even if it was an important category for us.
The absence of an official factory team didn’t make much of a difference there.
It will be the same for Ducati, who will continue to compete in Superbike.
” Honda – Carlo Fiorani:This is pretty shocking news because Ducati… IS Superbike.
Their absence is certainly a loss for the championship.
I hope that they return soon, because the more factories we have in the series the better.
”