A ‘Stratospheric talent’, but who is Davide Tardozzi referring to?

All WorldSBK champions with Ducati, Davide Tardozzi has called one rider from a list that includes Carl Fogarty, Troy Bayliss, Troy Corser and James Toseland a ‘stratospgeric talent’, but who is he referring to?

Robert Jones

03 Feb 2023

Back at the top of WorldSBK thanks to Alvaro Bautista’s stunning 2022 campaign, Ducati became world champions for the first time in over a decade last season.

However, success was much more frequent for the Italian manufacturer during the 90s and early 2000s, with multiple riders bringing them glory.

One of those was Fogarty who won the most championships (4) out of the four ex-riders listed above, and while Tardozzi, who is the current Ducati MotoGP Team Manager and a former racer in the Italian Superbike Championship, has a close relationship with Bayliss, it’s Fogarty that received the highest compliment.

Speaking to GPOne.com, Tardozzi said: "I have a special friendship with Bayliss. But I think Fogarty was one of the first SBK riders who could have raced in the world championship and been very competitive. Carl had a stratospheric talent.

"Fogarty, despite what people say, was a shy guy. He wasn’t as aloof as they say. Bayliss also had innate talent that he put to good use, perhaps a little late, but he had excellent results."

When asked about another Australian by the name of Troy, that being Troy Corser, Tardozzi had this to say: "He was an old-fashioned racer, one of those who didn’t mind a beer!

"He liked to race, but also to party. More than once, I had to go and fetch Corser when he was in a certain condition [drunk].

"I learned years later that twice he finished on the podium after coming back to the motorhome at 4am, not in a good condition!"

Finally we have Toseland, who was the last of these four riders to win a Superbike title with Ducati.

Toseland won the 2004 world championship before switching to Honda and doing the same in 2006. That was before a move to MotoGP took place in 2008 with Yamaha.

When discussing Toseland and his ability, Tardozzi didn’t feel as though he quite measured up to the other three riders, although his mental strength and determination was key in having sustained success.

Tardozzi said: "James didn’t have the talent of others but, thanks to stubbornness, his desire, he had incredible mental strength."