Ducati News Today

Following speculation last night about Livio Suppo’s future with Ducati, this morning the factory have confirmed that the MotoGP project director will in fact be leaving to join HRC. In another shock the rumor mill is predicting that Davide Tardozzi, World Superbike Team Manager will also be leaving in a huge management shakeup for Ducati racing.

The last race of the 2009 MotoGP season will also be the last race in Ducati Marlboro Team colours for Livio Suppo, Ducati’s MotoGP project manager. The Italian manager will leave Ducati to join HRC as a Marketing Director for MotoGP activities (whatever that is).

In Ducati since 1999, Suppo was involved in this challenging and ambitious project from the very beginning, contributing with his intuition, perseverance and enthusiasm to the world title victory of 2007 and to the many podiums and successes that have characterised the life of the Ducati Desmosedici from its debut in 2003 up until today.

“Livio has meant a great deal to Ducati and also to me personally; he has been a loyal and valuable colleague but above all a great friend,” commented Claudio Domenicali, General Director of Ducati. “We are very sorry that he has decided to leave the company but, in light of his correctness, professionalism and the great contribution he has made to the growth and success of the MotoGP project and the Ducati brand, we can only offer him our very best wishes as he takes on a new professional challenge. This is, however, also one of those moments in which we can rethink our organization in order to further improve, and this is what we have done in defining the 2010 team’s direction. The management of the Ducati Marlboro Team will be entrusted to, and reinforced by, two new managerial figures. Alessandro Cicognani, currently marketing manager for the Ducati Corse Division, will be responsible for the MotoGP project and alongside him, Vittoriano Guareschi, already the test rider for Ducati, will undertake the role of Team Manager, bringing to the squad a wealth of knowledge and experience that he has gained through being a professional rider and, most recently, a test rider.

Source: Ducati Corse Press Release via Superbikeplanet.com

Livio Suppo:- “Eleven years at Ducati has been magic. Of course the 2007 World Championship was the highest hope at the beginning. Since then it has also been good to work together with Filippo (Preziosi, Ducati Corse General Manager) and Claudio (Domenicali, General Director of Ducati) and all the team, and I’ll leave a piece of my heart in this company. But again, I think Honda is something difficult to resist.” “Next year I will be a kind of Marketing Director for the MotoGP activities and I hope to start on the right foot.”

link: MotoGP.com

Casey Stoner was quick to heap praise on Livio upon announcement of the news.

“Livio’s played a big part not only in my success but in the whole success of Ducati. He’s been there a long, long time – since the beginning of the MotoGP project,” said Stoner at Valencia on Thursday. “He’s done a fantastic job and I think everyone in this room would agree with me, no matter how much they like or dislike him. “I’ve had an excellent relationship with Livio. A lot of people tried to push us apart when I was away in Australia [to recover from fatigue problems]. It’s wrong basically [to say there was a problem between us].

link: Crash.net

Meanwhile, Motorcycle News and many other sites are claiming that Davide Tardozzi, Ducati’s legendary World Superbike Team Manager has also resigned.

It is clearly a time of great transition for Ducati Corse after failing to defend the World Superbike crown with Noriyuki Haga and the incredible drama of Casey Stoner’s 3-race absence this season in MotoGP.

Want More?
Read about Davide Tardozzi’s Departure from Ducati

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