Ducati to pull out of World Superbikes at the end of 2010

Ducati issued a press release yesterday, announcing that they are pulling out of World Superbikes at the end of this year. ‘Ducati, having participated with a factory team in every edition of the World Superbike Championship since it began in 1988, winning 16 Manufacturers’ world titles and 13 Riders’ world titles along the way, has decided to limit its participation to the supply of machines and support to private teams,’ says the press release.

‘This decision is part of a specific strategy made by Ducati, the aim being to further increase technological content in production models that will arrive on the market in the coming years. In order to achieve this objective, the company’s technical resources, until now engaged with the management of the factory Superbike team, will instead be dedicated to the development of the new generation of hypersport bikes, in both their homologated and Superbike race versions,’ says Gabriele Del Torchio, President and CEO of Ducati.

With this, it seems Ducati’s primary focus will now be on trying to win the MotoGP world championship next year, with Valentino ‘The Doctor’ Rossi. With his legendary skills, The Doctor will also be helping Ducati with development work on the 1198’s replacement, which is due to come out in 2012.