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WSBK: Interview: Ducati Superbike Director Davide Tardozzi
Written by: Dennis Noyes   
05/24/2007
Silverstone, UK
 
Ducati Superbike Director Davide Tardozzi (Photo: Ducati Corse) » More Photos

The Ducati 1200 in World SBK: To Be or Not to Be?

Just days now from the Ducati deadline ("by the end of May"), we await figurative white smoke from the chimney of the FIM offices in Geneva announcing some form of new regulations that will allow Ducati to continue to participate in the championship, World Superbike, that is almost synonymous with the name of the Bologna-based Italian manufacturer.

The FIM, however, still hold the ultimate power of technical regulations in World Superbike. This is unlike in MotoGP where technical regulations originate in the MSMA, the manufacturers association, and, provided they are to the liking of Dorna, are almost certain to become law. In fact, the FIM could notionally block new MotoGP regulations on the basis of safety, but in general, FIM approval is virtually automatic in the championship for prototypes.

All the more reason, then, that the FIM must be very actively involved in the writing of new regulations, if any are written, for World Superbike.

SpeedTV.com has interviewed both Paolo Alberto Flammini, CEO of FGSport, and Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Motor Holdings and President of Ducati Corse, but in this interview we move closer to the racing as we speak to the head of the Ducati Superbike racing program, Davide Tardozzi. If Ducati were an army, Tardozzi would be a soldier who became an officer via a battlefield commission.

A former racer, he won the very first-ever World Superbike race, held at Donington Park in 1988 aboard a Yamaha-powered Bimota. However, his name does not appear as the winner that day because at that first event the overall winner was decided on the basis of the combined result of the two races. Tardozzi crashed in race two and the overall winner on the day was 1981 FIM 500cc champion Marco Lucchinelli and ultimately the first World Superbike title went to American Fred Merkel (Tardozzi brought the house down at a Phillip Island ceremony honoring the pioneers of World Superbike when he said, after 'Flying Fred' Merkel was introduced, "This man ruined my life by winning the first championship which should have been mine, but I can forgive him for that." The Italian with the grey crew-cut continued, "but what I cannot forgive him for is that he is still blond!").

The following are relevant excerpts from an interview with Davide prior to the Silverstone round. Tardozzi has been manager of the factory Ducati Superbike team for many years, but, with Superbike program director Paolo Ciabatti leaving
to join FGSport as 'Project Leader' of the World Superbike Championship, Tardozzi now moves up to head Ducati Superbike efforts worldwide.

First of all, congratulations on your new title and promotion. Now you will be running not just the World Superbike effort, but also all Ducati's Superbike racing programs, including the big national championships like the BSB and AMA.

Davide Tardozzi: "Yes, if we have an AMA program because, as you know, in the AMA they are considering new rules, just as in World Superbike. For sure, America is very important for Ducati, so we are following things there. It would be difficult for 2008 even if the AMA accepted our 1200cc proposal for twins because in the first year with the new bike we prefer to have experience with the factory team before sending factory bikes outside Europe."

So, why has it come to this -- a deadline that is almost here and still no decision?

D.T.: "This is like a car that is wandering and no one is holding the wheel. Now there is a deadline and maybe now too many hands are on the wheel. This matter was not properly driven in the past. It took one and a half years for the MSMA to finally produce in September a proposal…it did not need that much time. Nothing is easy with the Japanese, but they are worried about the politics of the Italians.

OK, but just as all this is happening we see Paolo Ciabatti, a Ducati executive for many years, suddenly moves into the second top job in Superbike. What must the Japanese think of this?

D.T.: "I think Paolo will be our worst enemy, just trying to show that he is not still a Ducati man. No, really, I worked with Paolo ten years, side by side, and I think Flammini could not have made a better choice. He knows this sport, the teams, the people…he knows what Batta means when he talks, what (Carlo) Fiorani (of Honda Europe) is thinking…what the problems of the teams are, and I know he will be fair to everyone.

When did Ducati actually propose the new rules?

D.T.: "We have been discussing this for years. We first informed the MSMA and FGSport that we intended to move to a machine bigger than 1000cc in 2005. Since then we have been working with them to try and find a solution for 2008. We decided on 1200cc because that capacity allows us to be on an almost equal level to the Japanese 1000cc four-cylinder machines on the road. The difference in horsepower, as you see in the most complete comparison tests in the magazines, is around 20%. If you take the 1000cc sports Japanese fours and the 1000cc sports twins from Ducati and KTM, the difference is between 20% and 25%. This is why we ask for 1200cc."
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