There has been a lot of speculation over the possibility of Ducati leaving World Superbike should their proposed 1200cc machine not be allowed to race due to current rules.
Crash.net Radio spoke to Julian Thomas, the Xerox Ducati press officer, to find out where Ducati stands regarding its future in WSBK...
Question:
Julian there has been a lot of talk about Ducati quitting World Superbike, can you tell us what is happening?
Julian Thomas:
The situation is that we as Ducati have requested a change in the regulations to allow 1200cc engines for twin cylinder bikes to be allowed to race in World Superbike. Simultaneously we have also asked for a change in the regulations to bring about a levelling of the playing field between four cylinders and twin cylinder bikes.
Currently not a lot of people are aware of the fact that there are two different types of regulations in World Superbikes which govern fours and which govern twins. Twins are allowed a far greater level of tuning and preparation than fours, so it is not that we are asking for just a 200cc hike in the engine size, we are also asking for our eventual 1200cc bike to be brought down to the same level of preparation as the fours are at, at the moment. This way we think that it is a fair and just way of continuing in World Superbike.
Q:
You are running the 1098cc in Superstock, why is that bike not going to be used in Superbike?
JT:
Now, we are currently racing in Superbike with a bike that no longer exists, that is the 999. It is no longer on the market; it is no longer available to be bought. Our future production line, in fact our current production line includes the 1098 road bike. This will form the basis of - as has always been Ducati's tradition - the basis of a more developed bike which will come under the guise of the R symbol. We have always characterised our highly tuned race possible bikes with the R symbol.
