P32
WIND
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
IN
THE
Will the World Superbike rules
change a bit to help make the Ducati
competitive again?
to that so that whole piston trim
is much heavier than it could be
on a racing machine. You cannot
make a slipper piston or a lighter,
longer con rod or something else.
We would like to change this for
next year to get rid of some of the
big horsepower disadvantage.
The problem is that all the other
guys – and I know this better than
others – they gained a lot of power in the past four years. In the
past the difference was maybe 10
horsepower. "
Ernesto Marinelli, who is
Ducati's Superbike project leader, said: "What we always said,
not just now, is that be more re-
stricted than the four cylinders,
in the modern era, is ridiculous.
The regulations would be fairer if
the regulations were more similar
to each other and that is the principle that there is in Superstock.
When you got to see the Superstock races in National Cham-
pionship the level is a bit more
equal. The 2014 regulations are
already published and they are
the same as now except for the
eight engines, and except for the
restrictions of price cap and the
changes that are allowed."
Gordon Ritchie
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
DAVIES TO
DUCATI!
C
Chaz Davies will join the factory Ducati team for the 2014/2015
World Superbike Championship.
haz Davies has inked a two-year deal
to join Davide Giugliano in the factory Ducati team, the Welshman set to ride
the Panigale 1199s in the 2014 and 2015
World Superbike Championship.
The announcement was made on
Monday – just three days after Ducati
announced that it was ending its relationship with Team Alstare, the company that
ran its 2013 World Superbike team of Giugliano and Carlos Checa.
Davies rode for the BMW team this
year, finishing fifth in the 2013 World Superbike Championship with three wins
continued on page 34
