Interview with Paolo Ciabatti. Ducati Corse Team Boss
Q. Why will the Ducati Austin race team be located in Atlanta next year?
A. We like the South in America. I think, presently, the Ducati Austin team had a very small location close to their dealership, which was not practical. And a East Coast location makes many things easier beyond the facility problems they had in Texas. They found a nice facility at Road Atlanta which formerly was a car racing shop.
Atlanta is fine with us. It's easy to fly in and out of to Italy, it's a hub and it will be fine to get parts and things sent to the team. For us, it works a lot better than other places; it could have been Florida or California. California is too expensive and it's nine hours away from us, so it's a bit of a problem. It does not make communication so easy.
Q. If you look at the rules in AMA and know the probable configuration of the Ducati Superbike engine, you have to come away thinking these bikes will put out a lot of power, probably more power than the World Superbike machines Ducati fields.
A. We think the bike is going to be very competitive. We don't know how the Honda Fireblade is going to be. We think they are going to be very fast because they have included in the street bike the features needed to be competitive. Suzuki knows this better than us and this is why they were upset, I heard.
I think we're going to be competitive, for sure. I don't think we're going to be better than the four-cylinder. But we're not going to be worse than the four, for sure.
Q. It's tough to say whether the change to Michelin is an advantage right now. Eric knows Dunlops, they are very well designed for US tracks ...
A. We don't know if it's going to be an advantage. Maybe on some tracks it will be an advantage, and on others it will not. I don't think we will be so good in Daytona, the first time, because Michelin does not have such a recent knowledge about Daytona, but we know that they can get there if they want. And they want, because otherwise they would have stayed out of the States.
Q. Will the team get top-level Michelins? Several small teams here use Michelins, but they're not the same quality as those used in world championship.
A. Yes. They'll be using World Superbike tires as a base and then develop from there. I'm sure they will be developing something special for all of the different surfaces in America.
Q. Obviously all the changes to the rules in World Superbike for this year made it easier for you to direct some of the Corse Superbike budget to America.
A. Yes.
Q. Your thoughts on the current state of World Superbike as a series? It's hard to see that any other factories will race it now with two directives from the MSMA.
A. We're waiting to see how things build with Honda through Team Ten Kate. Even though in a way it's Honda leading the MSMA against the Flamminis. So it is a little hard to believe that they will do much to support World Superbike but who knows? Honestly, I think apart from this Honda that I cannot judge, I think the teams will be the usual Ducati teams, us and maybe Chili, the Steve Martin team, maybe NCR, and Foggy. Chili might be on 999s if he can find some more money, and NCR may field McCoy, I think they are talking to him, which would make it interesting.
But, apart from that, I don't expect to see a factory supported Kawasaki and trying to develop one on your own might be very difficult for a small private team. I don't think there will be any Yamahas; the ones that were testing with us at Valencia from Yamaha France, they were just slightly (faster) than a Superstock bike. And it looks like they have no budget to do the series. And Suzuki, they won't come.
Q. Some people feel that the future of World Superbike is actually quite bright, likening it to the time when NASCAR's Bill France told Detroit to pound sand. In that the series will grow on its own to support smaller privateer teams. There were no true factory teams in World Superbike for the first few years the series existed.
A. Who are these people that feel that way?
Q. People, the press.
A. (Laughs) Honestly, I think that one of the successes from World Superbike was that you had high level participation from all manufacturers with very good riders, which will give you some close competition with some big names. I think the spectators like to go to see not only some nice and close racing but also to see their heroes. We had several last year (2002): Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards, Nori Haga, Ben Bostrom, Ruben Xaus and Neil Hodgson. And others like Lavilla and Chili.
Now this year, we had Neil, Ruben, Lavilla and, in a way, Laconi.
Next year, we'll have Laconi and Chili, and the others .... Well, James Toseland is a strong rider and he is only 22. But, I don't think he is moving the big crowds, people like the sport and they like the bikes and the close racing, but they also like to see some big names racing. So, maybe someday you have a very balanced championship with private teams running private team bikes with Mr. Nobody riding it, you might have some very close racing. But, I think people will not care. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think that I am.
on AMASuperbike.com " all signs point to bostrom and ducati" !! ;D ;D
