VOL. 52 ISSUE 21 MAY 27, 2015 P103
F
or most of its 28 year history Ducati
virtually ruled World Superbike, in
both factory and privateer guises.
That was thanks in part to the rulebook
at the time, a hereditary understanding of
what makes a seemingly obsolete vee-
twin positively fly and the general talent of
their engineering division.
When MotoGP went four-stroke in the
early 2000s, World Superbike could no
longer contain Ducati's ambitions and
they duly added MotoGP to their long list
of racing honors, with race wins and then
the championship.
They became, as was once written,
Europe's HRC. That is, a byword for rac-
ing success at all levels.
Then it all started to go off beam.
In World Superbike the 1000cc fours
finally nailed any advantages the 1200cc
twins had enjoyed, and the rulebook
even stuck air restrictors into the bell-
mouths of former success.
World Superbike wins became harder
TECHNOCRAT
W E TA L K W I T H D U C AT I C O R S E ' S
T E C H N I C A L G U R U — G I G I D A L L' I G N A
BY GORDON RITCHIE/PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE
