Ducati's Tardozzi: 999 is dead in World Superbike

Ok Ya'll,



Let's set some "racing" thing right here. Yossef and anyone else that follow the FIM bellow if I'm wrong:

1- FIM allowed the 1000 V-twin rule because they knew that the Twins were down on power racing against the 750 in the late 90s early 2000s.

2- After some some rules book haggling in (what 2001 or so) the FIM says- we're letting the I4 increase to liter and doing so we will allow Twins to run modified cranks and valves and a number of other small internal moving parts to balance the field. Ducati was allowed this, with Honda just winning a Superbike championship or two (w/ RC51s), because Honda knew they were going to run I4 motors in the 2003 season. Honda didn't care what Ducati "brung to the dance" mostly because they knew Ducati could never make up the HP difference.

Now, Ducati is back to the "rules" table asking for the 20% to make the bike LESS technical and Easier to maintain than the current bike. Ducati's arguement isn't about total HP in this case. It's the fact that in current format the F6 motor has 1/2 the life span than it's I4 competitors. Costing (effectively) twice as much money to maintain the motor. That's not including all the "specialty" parts that go into the thing. Ducati WILL waive the parts allowance when FIM allows the CC increase, because they (Ducati) believe that they can compete in the class using ONLY the CC increase and the "standardized" allowable parts as the rest of the field. They will not mass produce a V4 because it's not what Ducati is about. They live by the "Race what you sell" tag. So, KP- don't expect it. Not in Ducati's case.

Aprilia is making the V-4 because the ROTAX twin CANNOT in ANY case be competitive. So, that's their reasoning for introducing the V4 Superbike and brining a new sportbike to the market place. Problem is that Aprilia will be selling a $40k+ bike in this market. Now, I like Aprilia but do you think that you would be in the market for a $40K Aprilia before you would consider a $27K-$30K Ducati "R"? Think I'd take the backing of the Duc warranty way before I cosidered the Aprilia. Aprilia couldn't get the CUBE to race in GP without 'splosions and I don't see them coming in and setting WSB on fire for two or better seasons. MV has a better shot at the title than Aprilia does. That's my take. Feel free to counter-point at your convenience.

I'm sorry that facts, as well as they can be presented, elude you. Buell uses a 50 year old motor design and is TRYING to compete in racing with it. CAN HE WIN?! NO. CAN HE PLACE. By God's grace- but God probably has more things to attend to. SO, Buell (if he wants to WIN) must change his motor design.

As for me and my job working at a Ducati Shop, doesn't matter. Facts are plainly stated below as to why Ducati is petitioning for a 20% increase. They are valid. Ducati cannot compete with the F6 motor because the design is too expensive to keep alive. If they are allowed the displacement increase they can change the way they set-up the monitary struture of the race teams because they WILL NOT have to spend so much money trying to make the motor (F6) compete. The 1200 petition will allow TWIN teams to spend less money because they will concede all the "special" rules that are designed just for them. That's as simple as I can get it. If you are still lost please seek help from sources that may provide medication for your problem.