Capirossi takes Ducati into MotoGP
Nick Mulvenney, Reuters, London
World superbike champion Troy Bayliss and former 250cc world champion Loris Capirossi will lead Ducati's four-stroke challenge when the manufacturer makes its MotoGP debut next season, the Italian team said.
Australian Bayliss, who has been associated with Ducati since 1998, will make his grand prix debut on the new four-stroke Desmosedici, which was unveiled at the Italian Grand Prix in May.
The announcement raises the mouth-watering prospect of the 33- year-old, who defends his superbike title in a final round showdown with Colin Edwards at Imola on Sept. 29, going wheel-to- wheel with 500cc world champion and runaway MotoGP leader Valentino Rossi next season.
"We strongly wanted Troy and Loris because both have shown themselves to be extremely talented riders and above all because they are totally committed to our project," Ducati Corse chief executive Claudio Domenicali said in a team statement.
"The desire to win and to face new challenges that we see in both of them was the deciding factor in our decision.
"Thanks to their experience, we are certain that we will make our MotoGP debut with a top-level team and with the right motivation to develop the Desmosedici as quickly as possible.
Bayliss was a late arrival on the international motorcycling scene, securing his Ducati superbike ride as surprise replacement for four times world champion Carl Fogarty when the Briton was forced to retire after a crash in 2000.
But since then he has won 22 races and appeared on the podium 44 times.
Italian Capirossi, 29, has raced in the top category of grand prix racing with the Spanish Honda Pons team for the last three seasons, but the two-stroke machine has been uncompetitive this year with the arrival of the 990cc machines.
"I have spent three very happy and successful years with the West Honda Pons team and now I feel it is time to move on," Capirossi told the official MotoGP website.
"For sure I shall miss the team as it has been the best team I have ridden in during my career but I am relishing the new challenge offered to me by Ducati."
"The prospect of being the number one rider with such a prestigious Italian constructor as Ducati is a great honor for any Italian rider."
Capirossi burst on to the grand prix scene by winning the 125cc crown at his first attempt as a 17-year-old in 1990. He successfully defended his title for Honda the next year before moving up to the 250cc class for two seasons.
A move onto the 500cc class for 1995 and 1996 was not an overwhelming success and he dropped back to 250cc, where he won the championship for Aprilia in 1998 after controversially colliding with his teammate Tetsuya Harada in the final race.
He has won 22 grands prix in his career, two in 500cc.
Ducati are by far the most successful team in world superbikes, having won the manufacturers' title in 10 of the 14 years of the championship's history.