Ducati roars away from World Superbike motorcycle racing

The Italian motorcycle manufacturer Ducati shocked the motorcycle racing world yesterday with a press release announcing they would be riding away from twenty-two years of World Superbike competition.

After having participated with a factory team in every edition of the World Superbike Championship since it began in 1988, winning 16 Manufacturers' world titles and 13 Riders' world titles along the way, Ducati said it ‘has decided to limit its participation to the supply of machines and support to private teams’.

"This decision is part of a specific strategy made by Ducati, the aim being to further increase technological content in production models that will arrive on the market in the coming years. In order to achieve this objective, the company's technical resources, until now engaged with the management of the factory Superbike team, will instead be dedicated to the development of the new generation of hypersport bikes, in both their homologated and Superbike race versions," declared Gabriele Del Torchio, President and CEO of Ducati.

But fans and experts look to the recent changes in the competition’s regulations to equalize the 1200cc twin-cylinder machine with the 1000cc four-cylinder machines as weighing heavily on the shocking decision.

‘Recently the Superbike World Championship, according to the current regulations, has been interpreted as moving more towards competition between prototypes rather than for bikes derived from production machines,’ the press release from Ducati reads, ‘This has led to an increase in costs, both for the manufacturers and the teams participating in the championship. This picture does not correlate with the current worldwide economic situation, which has made the securing of sponsorship even more difficult.’

Not surprisingly World Superbike Championship promoters Infront Motor Sports have expressed their ‘disappointment and surprise’ at Ducati’s decision to withdraw from the series due to disagreements over equalization.

Diplomatically, Infront CEO Paolo Flammini expressed frustrated that Ducati has taken the sudden decision to walk away.

“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,” Flammini notes, “and it is therefore difficult for us today to comprehend this decision, which of course we must respect.”

The news comes as the racing world learned more of Valentino Rossi’s decision to leave Yamaha and join Ducati in the MotoGP racing series.

Citing the need for a fresh start as well as the decision of Yamaha's Motogp chief Masao Furusawa to retire at the end of this season, Rossi recently confirmed he would be changing rides for the upcoming season.

"So it looks like for me here, the time is finished, you know? So I need a new adventure, some new experience, but especially a new motivation,” Rossi told the British newspaper, the Guardian, “So, I decided for Ducati."

Meanwhile Ducati will continue to supply machines to customer teams into 2011.

"I would like to thank Nori and Michel, and all of the riders that have contributed to the great history of Ducati in Superbike, but above all the Ducati employees; it is their hard work and professionalism that has allowed us to achieve such important results,” Gabriele Del Torchio, President and CEO of Ducati said in the statement.