Kawasaki had, in years previous, been a team and a bike that struggled in championship racing, be it MotoGP or WSBK. At the end of 2008 they formally pulled out of MotoGP, leaving Marco Melandri to soldier on under the banner of the Hayate Racing Team in 2009, scoring a single podium in the mixed conditions of France, the odd wet podium had for a while been the best result any Kawasaki in any class could claim.
Superbikes had been no better for Kawasaki as they struggled to score even the rare podium, the factory team often finishing mid back at best. But Kawasaki decided to change this, to focus more on the racing world. After the 2010 WSBK season the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R underwent extensive, race focused, development and in the hands of Tom Sykes managed a win. 2012 saw the Kawasaki become a WBSK title contender for the first time in over ten years and became competitive under the hands of not just Tom Sykes, but also Loris Baz. Tom Sykes would eventually lose the championship by just half a point, the closest ever margin in WSBK or MotoGP.
This stunning turn around of fortunes for Kawasaki prove that there is hope for Ducati, especially with the resources of Audi looming in the background. Similarly to Kawasaki Ducati to need make a change to return to the front of the pack as they had done with Stoner in his multiple years with the team. Ducati, and Audi, are willing to make the changes that are necessary and have enlisted four riders in the shape of Nicky Hayden, Andrea Dovizioso, Andrea Iannone and Ben Spies with wildly different riding styles in the hopes that one of their riding styles will ride the Ducati how it is meant to be ridden and provide a better base to make the Ducati more rideable, or at least show Ducati which riders to hire.
Ducati have shown this season that they are trying to improve the bike with a variety of swing arm upgrades for Rossi and Hayden, resulting in Rossi’s first dry podium at Misano earlier this year. This, combined with Audi’s support, sets hopes high that Ducati will be able to do what Kawasaki have done in WSBK and return to the front of the pack. The biggest hurdle they face is the creation and development of the chassis. This season Ducati had contracted out FTR to make their chassis as the small Bologna factory lacks the capacity to produce them at the rate required. Levels of worry about Ducati’s future raised earlier in the week when rumors began to circulate that Swiss chassis maker Suter had been in talks with Ducati about next season’s chasis. Suter have provide that their pace of development and chassis are somewhat lacking this season with their project in the CRT class, causing relations between Colin Edwards and Eskil Suter to become strained.
There is no way to currently tell whether Suter will step up to meet a customer like Ducati or if there even is a deal. But the recent success of Kawasaki would suggest that by keeping the development in house, something that may become possible with the help of Audi, and by accepting radical changes that a struggling bike and team can turn around their fortunes, especially with a decent rider, in Ducati’s case four, leading development and riding the bike to the limit, that a change in fortunes is in-fact possible, especially for a team with a history of success like Ducati.
For more photos go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/harrylloydgp/sets/
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