Ducati WSBK Bombshell!
 

They withdraw the factory effort from WSBK in 2011? what? the manufaturer with the most championships in the series? Did Rossi cost them that much money!!??

Just saw that headline on Twitter. WTF.

Ducati was not competetive in WSBK this season.

Official reason is they want to focus on the next. Generation of "hypersport" bikes. I think aprilia and the privateer squads embarassed them this year and they want to lay low until the new bike is ready. I assume they will be back in 2012 if the short stroke aluminum framed 1198 has an acceptable level of performance. I'm just concerned about what happens to edwards now as he was supposedly riding for xerox duc next year instead of haga

I'm just sad and shocked. I hope they come back soon. On the other hand if this speeds a real MotoGP bike for the street. A real trickle down streetbike that they can homologate for future WSBK, then this is just a bridge to cross...a gateway to future domination.

Domination.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDACorIaxNw

Doesn't mean privateers can't run the show. Shit, look at CC this year. He has pretty much out run Fabrizio all year, and for damn sure outrun Haga. And basically dominated Salt Lake before mechanical problems.

Yeah but with no factory effort why stick with the penalties of running a twin? Betcha a bunch of those duc privateers defect to aprilia, bmw, or maybe kawasaki

Where's Colin Edwards going to be now? Will Ducati loose the favoritism that gave them a weight break? Will privateers be able to talk their way into less intake restriction? Will Duc privateer teams have the funds to snap up premium riders and crew from anywhere???

Just too many questions.

Sounds like colin is trying to get resigned with t3.

Ducati's asshole is hurtin' from the pounding it takes by Aprilia.:lol

What a bunch of wusses. And that's why they're known as the Harley-Davidson of Italy.

They aren't looking very good after this, cert not after the history of lobbying for special rules and exceptions in sbk. The back handed shots at aprilia turning it into a "prototype" series aren't helping either :lol:

Heard they were losing a lot of their "special" twin considerations and decided to hang it up.

I guess this means there won't be a 1298 now. :lol:

Might have to be a 1698 before they'd consider it "fair".

Hopefully Haga's back on a Yamaha next year.

im kinda guessing he ends up with JT's seat, JT goes to ten kate and neukirchner leaves the series. rea is a hondaphile he wont go anywhere unless a gp seat opens up, crutchlow is 90% likely to go tech3 and i wouldnt bet haslam stays put either

That all makes sense...

Now you are thinking of buell

Woah, woah, WOAH! LOL!

Aprilia is bad this year but any manufacturer that prototypes off a V4 is going to be bad ass. Really, but that really is a compliment for Aprilia. And that looks to be the direction Ducati want to take. Sit out, come up with a go fast protoype, race it after producing just enough to homologate it. Its after all the Ferrari business plan and it works. The folks who buy these bikes make sacrifices to own the very razors edge of speed, so why clutter it all up with street/public compromises?

For realz... Just terrible.

http://www.worldsbk.com/en/season/standings.html

Yeah but aprilia priced the bike for the masses, the only part of the "prototype" argument that holds water is the gear cam kit-which is already banned for next year

Meant bad as in good. Bad to the bone, class bully whateva.

Well in my perspective it was a bike designed first for the track, where there was no existing model to update, no emphasis on consumer street sales. Like Honda seems to design a public consumption bike with some tuning latitude and then hot rods it for the track.
It seems to me Kawasaki are trying to pull off their own version of what Aprilia and BMW did. Work up something fresh and current bottom up, rather than taking the existing liter bike and trying to upgrade it and chasing the spec higher in the performance specs...

Yeah but since the litre bike revolution was kicked off by tadao baba's fireblade and the switch to full litres in superbike racing, what litre hasn't been a track focused monster? Aprilia and bmw just did a better job of it than japan this time. ducati handicaps themselves in engine, frame, and airbox and then expects special treatment, I can't feel any sympathy for em

From what I know of the new ten it should make the other three wake up and stop pulling punches. Isint that better for us in the end?

Amen to that brotha! I probably used the wrong term by saying protoype anyway, what I meant was a clean sheet design. And yeah Ducati has used incredible amounts of diplomacy and coersion over the years with the FIM when it comes to 'level and fair' playing fields...

I don't know why they bitch about the gear cam kit. It's a factory accessory for the RSV4.

those haga to kawasaki rumors are starting to get interesting eh?

thought for the day: Leon and Sylvain have reportedly been quicker at each shared track than Loris and Alvaro. maybe its time for an SBK vs GP exhibition race? while im wishing how bout we have it at NJMP, guys...please? :lol:

plus all rsv4's have bosses for it machined into the heads

I'd love to see Haga on the bike he helped develop for Ben. Watch them ride and it's essentially the same style. Huge speed in, make sure the back tire is off the ground, and smoke the tire on the way out.

Combine the knowledge that those two had on setup and anyone could probably run mid pack.:lol:

:lol: Well I would have considered this a wtf post but not now. I can't believe Ducati would pull out. :idk: