Ducati Leave WSBK - A Good Idea

[lucy]

Having cogitated on this I'm convinced Ducati's decision to leave is the correct one:

1. The 1098/1198 is at the end of its development cycle and the new oversquare, short stroke super-twin (which was the original concept for Ducati's MotoGP project) is two years away.

2. With the Shogun of Choke and The Damp Breeze their riding talent isn't championship calibre.

3. The marketing value of winning WSBK will be inconsequential to the point of irrelevancy compared to whatever happens to The Michael Jackson of Motorcycle Racing on their MotoGP bike so why squander money and effort on it?

[Kropotkin]

+1 as the lingo has it

[heng47]

4. They can homologate their 2012 GP bike for the 2013 WSBK season.

[RatsMC]

4. They can homologate their 2012 GP bike for the 2013 WSBK season.

Brilliant.

Aprilia started this ball rolling so why not?

[JanBros]

... but when they return, they'll have to build an entirly new team. now they'll be loosing a lot off there experienced crew.

I thinck letting Tardozi go was a big mistake

[Faster1]

,,IMO,, it is still a sh*t move.

for all the little and "quiet" fans who notice everything and who actually buy their motorcycle, this is pure abandonment and the exodus has nothing to do with the competitiveness of their bike.. It, of course is still supremely capable of contending for the title, this year and in the near future. They, like most needed to find the right pilot. From a consumer standpoint, Ducati's are race-bikes first!!!!, they are the Ferrari's of two wheels. It is unfathomable to not have a factory "production" effort. Satellite support? don't insult the intelligence!! they have no shot of a title without FACTORY testing and development. Moto-gp doesn't do sh*t for their production bikes or sales (don't mention the gp comemorable liveries edition, it is icing on the cake ,,, not cake).

No,, Ducati are running scared from Aprilia,, THE top Italian race bike company!




Thanks Lucy

[RatsMC]

Look at it this way: Ducati has to develop the new bike for Rossi - the bike they currently have is going to require a lot of work to get it to what is going to be expected. Then they have to begin work on the 2012 motor which is going to need to be more than just re-boring the GP11 motor - all the electronics will need to be completely overhauled. And then they need to develop the new 1198 which is no small project given the amount of HP they are going to need to extract from it.

That is three massive engine development project that all need to be worked simultaneously and have no overlap. For a company as small as Ducati, the minds they need to work on these projects is limited.

[Thornado]

If they're only out for 2011, I can let it slide for a season. It's tough times out there. If there's not a factory team in 2012, then count me in on the betrayal of their heritage bandwagon.

[sir_nj]

If they're only out for 2011, I can let it slide for a season. It's tough times out there. If there's not a factory team in 2012, then count me in on the betrayal of their heritage bandwagon.

+1, especially given the "Ducati Cup" has been so good to them over the years. Must say that I don't think they made this decision lightly but it would be a crying shame if the main reason was so they could put their full support behind Rossi rather than develop their new superbike.

[Chewie]

Gutted by it, why is it some races the Ducati has it all and then the next race it's down in 7th or 8th.. Fabrizio definately blows hot and cold, always has done, Nori seems to want it one day then not the next! I guess. I wonder where the riders will go, who would want Fabrizio? Haga?

[Faster1]

,, and we all left out that if weight penalties and restrictive devises were not part of the Ducs mandatory bolt-ons. It probably would have have the wins right now. That bike au-jus is still a great package for the foreseeable future ...

conspiracy? I don't know,, I'm just saying, you-know?

[phoenix1]

4. They can homologate their 2012 GP bike for the 2013 WSBK season.

Couldn't they have done that with the 990s as well? There are reasons why it will never happen.

[ipso]

Dean Adams mentioned somewhere on SoupCrack (du-du, du, du | du-du, du, du..) that the vibe at Ducati is now all about MotoGP, even before Rossi, and WSBK has become ho-hum. He thinks it’s purely a “cultural shift” within the company (vs. finance demanding a management decision for one series or the other.) [I paraphrase.]



To me, Ducati leaving WSBK is like Chevrolet ceasing production of the Camero, ..just to draw attention and nostalgia to itself. It smells of a marketing driven comeback story to me.

I think WSBK effort, and even wins, would just cannibalize the "best foot forward" vision that is this.

[heng47]

4. They can homologate their 2012 GP bike for the 2013 WSBK season.

Couldn't they have done that with the 990s as well? There are reasons why it will never happen.

I remember reading somewhere that Ducati threatened to homologate the Desmo unless Infront gave them 1200cc. They already had 300 D16RRs on the road, just needed another 700 more.

[JanBros]

just read a great article in a Belgian mag.it should have been about testriding the SBK's, but because off constant rain, there was no riding, and the article was just describing the bikes. (bye the way, the author knows what he's talking about, as he is involved in top-level teams in IDM and endurance as telemetrist and suspension-man).

first quote is about the R1 :

last but not least, there is one part on the bike that is trully original : the clutch-lever ...

about the GSX-R and R1 :

the feul tank is below the seat, underneath a complete selfsupporting carbon subframe

another one about the R1 :

if there is anything that should remain standard in SBK's, it's the frame. but the frame off the R1 has extra welded plates on it, has a different headstock, parts off the frame has been left out, ...

and then they want us to believe SBK's is about racing production bikes ...

there were also lot's off interesting figures in the article, mainly on prices off some parts. best one was this :

* about the 1198 (and others) : it has lithium/aluminium calipers from MotoGP that cost 12.000 euro ..... per caliper .... without pads ....

* about the RSV4 : one "negative" point : it only has casted calipers


my conclusion : if one considers that the Aprilia was not down on braking power compared to the Duc (at least, no visible difference), and considering that those casted Brembo's cost about 500? euro per caliper, Ducati could instantly save 11.500 x 8 (2 calpiers per moto x 2 bikes per rider x 2 riders) 98.000 euro on calipers only ...
and then they complain it's too costly

[fontyyy]

4. They can homologate their 2012 GP bike for the 2013 WSBK season.

If they can sell 3000 they can homologate whatever they want.

[heng47]

If they can sell 3000 they can homologate whatever they want.

I thought the quota was 1000 bikes?

Anyway, if they can sell the 1098R which is a total rip off, they can sell a Desmo.