Top 5 Ducati Events of 2010 Number 2
Ready for Christmas yet? How about 2011? Like it or not, 2010 is almost run so with that in mind please find the top 5 Ducati events of 2010 from Ducati News Today’s point of view. We’ll count down from 5 to 1 in order of significance. Number 2 is the Ducati Factory withdrawal from the World Superbike Championship.
2) Ducati Pulls out of World Superbikes
The emergence of Ducati as a serious alternative to Japanese sportbikes is inextricably linked to the development of the 851 Desmoquattro and the inexorable rise of the World Superbike championship. Eyebrows were seriously raised when Marco Lucchinelli blasted a prototype around Daytona in the 1987 Pro-twins race at a pace that was Superbike competitive. The very first round of the 1988 World Superbike championship showed that the performance was no fluke. Although unreliable, Ducati nearly pulled off a maiden championship (they didn’t participate in the last two rounds) but finally broke through in 1990 with Raymond Roche.
Ever since, the World Superbike championship has been associated with Ducati, even being termed the Ducati cup during a Japanese brand boycott over a switch to control Pirelli tires. With riders like Doug Polen, Carl Fogarty and Troy Bayliss Ducati and Superbike racing just goes together.
Not anymore. Ducati announced that they would withdraw factory participation from 2011 citing a need to work on migrating their race technologies to production machines. The shock swept through the paddock and to the ducatisti at supersonic speed such was the momentous nature of the unexpected announcement.
However it is not as if Ducati will no longer be represented in Superbike competition. The Althea squad with impressive Carlos Checa will lead the charge in 2011 with factory assistance. The fact that Carlos soundly trounced both factory Xerox Ducati riders this year means we may still expect to have some Ducati Superbikes up at the pointy end even if they don’t sport factory colors.
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