Ducati Corse in AMA in 2004?

deez · 06-20-2003, 10:33 AM

6/20/2003
Ducati May Support Two-rider U.S. Superbike Team In 2004

Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Insiders say that Ducati North America and Ducati Corse want to support a two-rider team in the AMA Superbike Series in 2004, providing the company is able to homologate the short-stroke 999R.

Ducati's 2003 season with the Dream Team Ducati and Ducati Austin customer teams has been a disaster so far: Dream Team Ducati imploded after putting Larry Pegram on the podium at Road America, and Ducati Austin replaced podium-less Anthony Gobert with Italian Giovanni Bussei after Road America.

Pegram sought legal advice after Road America, saying he hadn't been paid, and blamed the team's financial problems on LLC partner DeVeaux Hill cutting off promised funding.

Meanwhile, Gobert declared Ducati Austin's 998RS 'unrideable' after parking it mid-race several times, while his crew repeatedly said that there was nothing wrong with the motorcycle.

One Gobert associate said after Road America that 'Valentino Rossi would finish fourth or fifth on that bike, it's so badly prepared.'

ccwilli3 · 06-20-2003, 10:41 AM

I really think the 999R would get 100% schooled by the unrestricted US AMA GSXR1000 bikes...

Would be nice for them to come, the ducati fans need something to cheer about. They are so high on the cappirossi win last weekend its pathetic...

deez · 06-20-2003, 10:42 AM

They can get their panties wet all they want, Ducati won't win chit as long as Rossi is around.

ccwilli3 · 06-20-2003, 10:47 AM

Quote:

booth23 : They can get their panties wet all they want, Ducati won't win chit as long as Rossi is around.

The biggest messed up thing I heard a Ducati guy say was 'rossi couldn't catch capirossi... blah blah, noise noise'

Whatever man, the hightlight of the race wasn't your guy winning the race, the friggin highlight was Rossi schooling everyone in sight!

Tunnel vision...

QuikMike · 06-20-2003, 12:01 PM

Quote:

ccwilli3 : Quote (booth23 @ June 20 2003, 10:42am) They can get their panties wet all they want, Ducati won't win chit as long as Rossi is around.

The biggest messed up thing I heard a Ducati guy say was 'rossi couldn't catch capirossi... blah blah, noise noise'

Whatever man, the hightlight of the race wasn't your guy winning the race, the friggin highlight was Rossi schooling everyone in sight!

Tunnel vision...
Rossi couldn't catch Capirossi?!?!?!? what kind of weed were they smokin?!?...didn't they watch the first 12-15 laps or so?!?!?

Holeshot · 06-20-2003, 12:37 PM

Quote:

booth23 : Pegram sought legal advice after Road America, saying he hadn't been paid, and blamed the team's financial problems on LLC partner DeVeaux Hill cutting off promised funding.

It seems that he was not the only one. I was 1/2 way jokingly offered one of their engines a couple of days ago.

It's just sitting there, in the shop, waiting to be paid for it seems. They said they could have the 180+ HP engine in my bike in about 2 hours!! :0 Hm.. now if I only had the checkbook that team *SHOULD* have had.

I was going take a few pictures of the engine but they said they'd have to kill me....

lfg929 · 06-20-2003, 12:47 PM

Heh, having the 180HP engine would be great except for that whole 'you have to completely rebuild it after every race' thing.

Holeshot · 06-20-2003, 1:59 PM

Yeah.. and won't idle below 2000 RPM. Makes for machine that's not very streetable when it *is* running. But the *idea* of it is pretty cool.

Sort of like dating a super-model. Damn.. super hot bod but would you *really* want to put up with all their crap (the wife has been watching the America's Top Model show.. man.. what a bunch of emotional train-wrecks those chics seem to be..)

- David (thread hijacker in training)

deez · 06-20-2003, 2:50 PM

Yup you said it, the finer they are the more b.s. you put up with. So you have to reach a happy medium there and that is tough to find.