Two weeks after officially confirming that Valentino Rossi will join its Marlboro-backed MotoGP team for the next two seasons, Ducati stirred up the media again, announcing that it will not field a factory World Superbike effort in 2011.
When Ducati fielded its MotoGP team, many asked how the comparatively small Bologna-based factory could manage the enormous technical, technological and financial burden of the two challenges and be able to collect results in both. Regarding SBK, Del Torchio promised that the legions of Ducatisti around the world “shall not be left alone.” Fully supported satellite teams will field 1198 racers next year.
Michel Fabrizio receives his Silverstone Race 2 third-place trophy from four-time World Superbike title-winner and legendary Ducati racer Carl Fogarty.
In an official release, Del Torchio confirmed that the main reason for his decision was the need to concentrate the factory energies on the development and refinement of the next-generation sportbikes, which will be based on a highly oversquare (112 x 60.9mm) 1200cc, 90-degree V-Twin. This should go into production sometime in 2011 to be eligible for racing (in the hands of satellite teams) in 2012.This engine is completely new, a real technological spearhead that promises to set the class standard, if the rumors of power reaching around 200 horsepower in street-legal form are to be believed.
In my opinion, the real reason Ducati will not field a factory SBK team can be identified in the last two paragraphs of the official announcement. There, it points out the continuing cooperation of Ducati with the series organizers, the FIM and other manufacturers involved to establish new regulations that will bring SBK racing back to the spirit and technical essence of its original production-based formula. Reference is clearly made to the hyper-technological BMW S1000RR, a MotoGP racer in civvies that only a very rich motor company making a lot of loot in its car branch could put into production without a financial hitch. Also, the Aprilia RSV4 factory racers were allowed to switch from chain to gear drive by simply homologating a conversion kit.
Reducing costs and setting rules that will remain the same for a reasonable period of time are good reasons to rock the boat like Ducati has done and might lead to a healthier SBK series with a larger field of participants. Still, looking back at the 2010 season, while the 1198 might have lost some of its winning edge, Carlos Checa and his private Ducati-Althea Team have proved more competitive than the factory riders on many tracks. And, even more meaningful, in a private test at Misano after World Ducati Week, Troy Bayliss, temporarily out of mothballs, was clocked 8/10 of a second quicker than Michel Fabrizio and a full second-and-a-half faster than Nori Haga.
Fabrizio is a typical case of young Italian talent gone sour before coming to full maturity due to a ballooned ego fanned by local media (he even issued a bitter release of his own). Haga is still a brave-but-tired samurai in need of rest to recover from too many crashes.
About the officially announced main reason, that of concentrating on the development of the new engine and related hyper-sport models, there is no better test bench than racing. And that old racing saying, “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday,” enjoys even greater validity in motorcycling, especially in the case of a new generation of models.
Alternatively, maybe Valentino Rossi and Marlboro strongly requested that Ducati concentrate all energies on its MotoGP commitments.
