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Austin Circuit and CEO Rumours

Discussion in 'Front Page Articles' started by Ducati News, Apr 17, 2013.

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    It is fairly safe to say that Ducati haven't had the best of preparations in regards to the up coming Austin circuit of the Moto GP season. Big things were expected of the Italian outfit this year considering their massive disappointment in their performance of previous seasons and also the fact that Audi gained ownership of the racing firm in 2012 however, so far, things have not been going to plan.

    The team did not shell out the money on fact finding for the new track in Austin in the same way in which Yamaha and Honda have done leaving them at a significant disadvantage this year. Indeed, their sole experience of the new track is Hayden's quick jaunt around on a street bike which he described as being a tough racing environment. Both Honda and Yamaha were able to private test on the new circuit which is hosting Moto GP for the first time.

    The team will now have to base their racing strategy on two things and neither of them are completely ideal. Firstly they have a rough idea of a track from Hayden's street bike race around and secondly they will be using simulation data to create a plan to try and restore some pride for the company.


    After the massive under performance of the 'Rossi era' it was expected that a revamp to Ducati's racing team and backroom staff would go someway to helping with more success on the track however this has not yet been the case. The first major event of the Moto GP 2013 season in Qatar ending poorly for the outfit with Dovizioso and Hayden finishing seventh and eight respectively meaning that their bad luck and poor form seems set to continue. Whether or not they can rectify this at Austin remains to be seen however the fact is that, without adequate and proper preparation, the odds are certainly not in their favour.

    However this is not all that is concerning Ducati at the minute as rumours are circulating and flying around that the CEO is preparing to quit.

    Gabriele del Torchio, who has been at the Bologna biking supremos for 5 years, is getting ready to take up a position with Italian airline Alitalia is reports coming out of his home country are to be believed. The businessman joined Ducati in 2007 and helped to streamline much of the corporate structure with cost cutting, a huge modernization process both at racing and bike production level as well as aiming to improve the profits that the Italian company makes every year.

    In all respects he has been pretty successful as he has made Ducati even more of a success than it already was before the sale to Audi that happened in 2012. The reasoning behind the move is that the airline, Alitalia, is currently struggling financially and was only just rescued from going completely bankrupt in 2008 so it is hoped that Del Torchio will be able to turn them around and apply the same formula that he did to Ducati.

    Whether or not he actually does leave remains to be seen.

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  2. I'll be watching the Yamaha's
     
  3. It never ceases to amaze me how news reports twist and turn. When Audi purchased Ducati there was lots of talk of it being a slow, but steady, climb back to the top. The talk then was of properly testing parts and developement, rather than the last two years of rushing about like chickens with their heads cut off. The view was to develop through the first half of the season and, hopefully, start to work up the placings in the second half of the season.

    So far we have had one race this season and I keep reading comments, such as those above, "Big things were expected of the Italian outfit this year [...] so far, things have not been going to plan".

    If it was that easy to put the Ducati at the front again, I would like to think they would have done just that, some time ago. Let's have some patience. I, for one, was quite impressed with how Dovi started the race in Qatar. Honda had quite a few years really struggling to get their bike right again, let's not forget.

    I'm confident that Ducati will get there, especially now that they have Audi's weight behind them. It's bad enough reading in MCN that Ducati aren't living up to expectations, I don't expect to read the same style of comment on a DUCATI forum! Patience and proper testing/development, not the Rossi/Burgess throw more new parts at it style, is the way. Let's see supportive comments on here. I'm not one for support where it's not warranted, but saying it's not going to plan after one race is unwarranted criticism.
     
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