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Ducati the victims claims Checa

Discussion in 'Front Page Articles' started by Ducati News, Dec 22, 2012.

  1. Carlos Checa, former WSB world champion, has spoken out over last seasons issue with the Ducati 1098 and the 6kg ballast that it was forced to carry.

    The initial problem and controversy arose in 2007 when the WSBK decided to alter their regulations in regard to the number of cylinders that the engine carried; essentially the fewer cylinders that the motorcycle carried the more concessions it would get. Indeed, when the 1098 first came out, Ducati was able to capitalise on this by taking advantage of these concessions because it operated with a two cylinder V-twin design.

    In fact, Ducati themselves lobbied the FIM (Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme) pretty extensively to allow its 1098 model to race in the premier class as, because it was running at 1200 cc which is above the maximum 1000 cc regulations at the time, it was unclear if the new model would be eligible to race in the premier category. However it appears, to Checa anyway, that the regulations are now actually harming Ducati as opposed to allowing them to race on a level playing field.

    “The extra six kilos last season was not a technical issue, but a political one ... they were clearly against us - they decided that Ducati could not win the title in 2012 and that’s how it turned out.

    - Carlos Checa

    So, what is the issue? Well because the FIM conceded to Ducati's request that the cc for Twins be increased to 1200 cc (even after staunch opposition from Corona who made a threat to pull out altogether) they decided that a 6kg weight penalty should be applied to twin cylinder engines and, thus, keep everything fair and equal. Well, that was the plan however Checa took particular exception to this and his interview with motociclismo.es has him firmly with his tin foil hat on crying conspiracy. Not only are the regulations now out to penalize Ducati bikes and racers argued the 40 year old Spaniard, but that the FIM had no intention of letting Ducati win the competition and did everything they could do prevent the Italian company from being victorious.

    Powerful stuff.

    Indeed Ducati, who have historically dominated this competition by winning it 17 times, did not fare well in the 2012 standings with Checa finishing 4th and 70.5 points behind eventual winner and now retired Max Biaggi.

    Whether or not FIM have an agenda against Ducati is up for debate - albeit probably not a serious one - however Checa firmly believes that Ducati and himself are being discriminated against. Currently they are testing out the new Panigale ahead of the 2013 season however the 6kg weight issue (conspiracy) will not be raised in the new year as the new bike will not have to carry the extra weight.
     
  2. That's not entirely true. After years of winning on similar capacity engines to the rest of the field Ducati decided to build and race a 1200. Their choice.
    They got the rules changed to allow them to enter, on the proviso that if they cleared off in to the sunset then they would have restrictions placed upon them. Troy Baylis made the competition look like they were going backwards. Something had to be done and the restrictions were imposed. Every rider since that hasn't been up to Troy's standard has had to cope with the outcome.

    At least Ducati get to choose where to place the weight. Personally I think it was a big mistake building a 1200. It's seen by many as cheating and I think makes their success since rather hollow.
     
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  3. I believe a lot of the weight is utilized(?) by a proper starter and battery, so still an advantage after a spill/stall etc.
     
  4. Its seen by a lot of others as not cheating as well. Just wanted to provide a little balance.

    If you believe that capacity is the only measure of performance then i can understand why someone might think that.

    However, its more accurate to think of the class as a "cylinder surface area" one, where Bmep is the critical parameter.

    For their own historical reasons Ducati sell for the road a twin and want to race with a twin in this series.They need 1200 cc to do that bearing in mind the other restrictions on them that are not apparent to users of the 4. If its a road based series then shouldn't they race what they sell ?
     
  5. In my opinion the truth (as often) is in the middle: Since SBK arose there were always a bonus for less cylinder over cc, when the sbk were 750cc twins were allowed to race 999cc (up to 1000). So it's not so strange they were allowed to race with a 1200cc twin versus 1000cc four cylinders. They get already a restriction on intake tube diameter and was obligated to use an air restrictor. What I found really different is that during past seasons those limitations were rediscussed during season on result basis to keep performance balanced, this year even if was pretty clear that Ducati was suffering versus 4 cylinders bike they would stuck on those rules, and so came to Checa words.
     
  6. Hp= PLAN (Break mean effective pressureX length of strokeX pressure areaX pistonXRpm )
    Cant happen at (13500-13700)rpm Ducati engines have problems with short operating lives, just not reliable, reciprocating stresses too high? even the cases have to be replace every couple of races, and difficult to improve the other variables
    A four cylinder has smaller lighter pistons, rods less reciprocating stress, reliability totally different, improved compared to Ducati. Ducati using most expensive materials, engineering just cant burn enough air/fuel in a given amount of time to produce enough power to out-power a four, without blowing up? Not criticizing I applaud DUCATI for accepting a task they were destined to eventually fail at? but against all odds were successful at for so long?
    i look forward to the great equalizers the new V/L4s
     
  7. I remember watching walker on the gixxer 750 versus hodgson on the gse ducati 1000 on a drizzly oulton park track in the 2000 bsb race, banging fairings at the last corner was very entertaining
     
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