Infront 'surprised' by Ducati quit decision
World Superbike Championship promoters Infront Motor Sports have expressed their 'disappointment and surprise' at Ducati's decision to withdraw from the series due to disagreements over equalisation.
Ducati made the shock decision to quit the championship it has won in 16 of the last 22 seasons yesterday [Friday], citing a motivation to concentrate on production based models.
However, despite this, the Italian manufacturer did hint that a dissatisfaction of the regulations to equalise their 1200cc twin-cylinder machine with the 1000cc four-cylinder machines was an additional factor.
With this in mind, Infront CEO Paolo Flammini is frustrated that Ducati has taken the sudden decision to walk away, adding that they have been constant negotiation with teams over how to keep competition fair. It also points out that while Ducati lost out on the 2009 title to Yamaha, it would have dominated without the presence of Ben Spies.
"We are disappointed and also a bit surprised at Ducati's decision especially since we have been asked numerous times for a change in the regulations to bring about a better balancing of twin-cylinder 1200cc machines towards the four-cylinder 1000cc bikes.
"It must be mentioned that last year, without the presence of a phenomenal Ben Spies, the Ducati 1198 would have dominated the championship with Haga and Fabrizio, and it is therefore difficult for us today to comprehend this decision, which of course we must respect."
The statement concludes that the regulators had a duty to maintain parity with the six remaining manufacturers, rather than just focus on a single one.
"Moreover the FIM Superbike World Championship can today boast the participation of six manufacturers in addition to Ducati, with Aprilia, BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha and is therefore obliged to maintain a total balance in the regulations, without privileging one or other manufacturer in particular."
Ducati will continue to supply machines to customer teams into 2011.
