Francis Batta, the team principal behind Alstare Ducati, was commentating on French Eurosport during race one. He made some interesting comments about the Ducati and their general progress. Clearly, he doesn't expect Checa to be any nearer the front than he is because the bike isn't good enough. He said the best bikes this year were clearly the Kawa and the Aprilia. He said that the Panigale has been wished upon the world by the marketing department at Ducati and it makes a great road bike, but has issues as a race bike. This is why it has been very successful in SuperStock, but the Superbike versions aren't much faster. That clearly is not what you'd expect or accept. He wryly said that Ducati had ruined his career: All the time (13 years) he was campaigning Suzukis, they kept beating him. The moment he switches to Ducati, they produce a bike that doesn't work. Still, apparently Ducati have ambitions to win WSBK next year, so he is hopeful that there will be progress. But it was apparent that he didn't think it would be coming very soon. He also said that the Ducati was really rough on its tyres, whilst the Kawa is the kindest to its own. I like Batta. He is massively experienced, very bright and talks very dispassionately. Doesn't look as if I should have put Carlos and Neukirchner in my Fantasy Team...
The story that it can beat a HP4 in stock but not in WSBK because the bike is not a race bike is utter bullshit. a SS engine being as strong as a WSBK ? If that is true it is due to restrictions, a lack of development or both.. the kawa was rough on it s tires just 1 year ago. And now it flies.. have they made a ZX10RRR or just developed a basically good machine? To makes this bike work in WSBK, it requires the fullest attention of Ducati Corse. just as the Beeemrs, Ap's and kawa' are getting . And as all previous models got... The best minds are waisting all of their time and massive resources on a GP dud that will not ever come close to winning. The pani may not be the decades ahead world beater it's predecessors were, but that may be just as much by the competition gotten much and much better and the bike not getting enough attention from the brightest minds than from the inherent design. And still i think that Ducati is sandbagging to make sure the restrictions are lifted. there is no sense in getting 2 nd, third a first and then a fourth if you want to get some rules changed, no ?
So first of al they all say its down on power! Then they go to a none power track like assen and now its got crap handling. So shit sherlock. Troy Bayliss pulled a blinder on Panigale hype. Biggest ducati fuck up in wsb ever. Wipe the dust off the 1198 ffs and throw the piece of shit in the skip.
piece of shot wins in SS.. if it really was a piece of shit, they could hide that by making a F013 that was like the F06 999, an alotgether different bike from stock on about everything. if you can beat an HP4 in SS it says that that bike is not a piece of shit.. The RS13 with some factory bits running against the top of the heap in wsbk is ...
Personally I think its checa not riding 100% i like him, he a great guy and done great things for ducati but is he pushing the limits of the bike? That's what they need as that's what will tell them where to concentrate to get the gains. I'm sorry but something's not right with Checa and maybe they need to look at a new number 1 rider.
Evidence im afraid is lacking but it often is in an opinion ; What i based my opinion on though is body language i guess and just a feeling. He's not looked a happy chappy has he and not seemed to be riding at his best or putting up much fight. Having just this minute finshed watching wsbk from earlier on my sky + it would seem that both James Haydon and Neil Hodgson think exactly the same as they've both just said he needs a kick up the backside (their words not mine)
In all honesty I think it makes a change for Ducati not to be winning everything in wsb. There have been many moans over the years from other teams about Ducati ploughing too much money and resources into wsb, making the bikes too specialized, and in doing so forcing the other teams to spend more than they wanted to in order to compete. It would appear the tables are turned. Aprilia have pulled a blinder in producing the RSV4, and I couldn't even hazard a guess at how much BMW have invested in their efforts. And yay for Kawasaki, finally competing at top level for the first time in donkey's years. Have Ducati, I wonder, anticipated future regulations too soon? I mean, there have been murmurs about wsb being dumbed down since being bought out, and they have produced a good superstock package...
As this has spoiler...great job done by the Brits! To catch and beat Hill Laverty played a blinder! Davies did me a favour. Great results in others too...Lowes finally going Sofu in a fight! And the first win in WSSTK for what-his-name the Italian after that mad last lap! Awesome race...of that was GP under the new rules probably both would have been DQ'd..
Well, who can say? Batta seemed happy enough with him (though admittedly, if he wasn't, he'd be unlikely to voice those views on Eurosport). On the other hand, he was overtly critical of the Panigale. More likely, if he's not giving 110%, it's because à la Rossi, he doesn't feel comfortable on the bike. The guy's a world champion: he wants to win things. I don't think he shows up to be content with 10th. If he was cruising, I doubt he'd have fallen at Philip Island. One of them isn't working properly. One's a proven champion, one's in development. Where are the shortcomings more likely to lie?
Oh yes, he also said that Biaggi might be doing some development riding for them and would perhaps do some races, esp if there were injuries but specifically ruled out Monza.
I had big hopes for the Pani at Assen, after a 3 day test at Jerez where Carlos left happy saying they'd found some good base settings. Sadly the results didn't reflect any improvement. If the bike was going to shine anywhere it should've been at Assen. I think the bike has serious flaws and riders and teams know it, which is one reason there's not many on the grid. Its going to be a very lean year for Ducati in WSBk and MGP. No need to clear a space in the museum for trophies for a while.
The wsbk effort was a last minute dash and just a start of development. With limited commitment from Corse ad they outsource it to a private team. This is a half hearted effort in a transitional year. I dont think Corse has done 20% of what they should have or can do. All our hopes were raised by a magical superpole in Oz. God knows how they did it . There is no reason to write the bike off. Because it does win races or at least competes at the front. And again, competition has never been fiercer. Which is a very good thing. The days of the walkover are over.
give it time I say where the 916 996 998 999 were all evolution.. ..this is revolution. it will just take time to fettle
I agree, it will take time to fettle and I think it was a bit premature for them to ditch the MotoGP frameless bike and outsource the manufacturing of the frame to a third party. However, Ducati need some success and they need it fairly quickly. Ducati is a manufacturer that has built it's success on winning races. If it doesn't continue to do that their road bikes will be viewed as fashion statements for the well heeled (already partly true to the people that haven't ridden one). Hopefully, now they are free from their contract with Rossi it'll free up some money (plus Audi should dig deep and stump up some cash).
Rossi was never paid by Ducati, his salary came from Phillip Morris so him being there or not changes nothing in that respect. If money were the issue at GP level then it would never have flowed more than in Rossi's time. The changes imo needed to flow from a change in thinking at Corse. Largely why i think Preziosi got moved aside. New broom etc. i had heard that Ducati are rolling out a radical new design for the test team to try out soon.
yeh I do think ducati probably dont have the revenue of the large diverse jap manufacturers these days so good results are maybe more important to them. but having said that ducati riders probably are the more brand loyal returning type so maybe customers or potential buyers wont be dissuaded by poor results - who knows
Just saw some extracts from the SS race.. There is nothing wrong with the bike. Commitment to win is all it needs. And playing honda and yamaha on their own almost unbeatable game in GP is megalomanic and has wrecked havoc on the confidence in what will probably prove to be a brilliant development if you want to advance on weight .. What i hear from guys having fully prepped 1198R is that after 1 year of development of the basemodel, they re preparing the 1198 for retirement . So let s be patient and hope corse gets its priorities right ..
