Ducati Roma starts preparations for 2012 WSB season

The newly-announced Ducati Roma team started its preparations for the 2012 Superbike World Championship with three days of testing at the Misano circuit from 29-31 October, with Niccolò Canepa doing the riding duties. The weather conditions were cold but this did not prevent the team run by Andrea Petricca from getting through its testing schedule.

Canepa lapped constantly in around 1 minute 37 seconds, familiarizing himself with the riding position, the ride-by-wire and engine mapping electronics package, as well as working on suspension and brakes. At the end of the test Canepa also did a long-run, getting under the 1'37" mark, a good performance seeing as the young Italian had not ridden a Superbike machine since 2008.

Andrea Petricca declared: "I'm very happy with these three days of testing. The weather didn't help much but luckily the track remained dry and this allowed us to test everything we had planned. The team did a great job and in just a short time managed to adapt itself to the new bike and the new material. Our new electronics technician slotted in well with the rest of the team and Niccolò did everything expected of him, confirming himself to be a young but already experienced rider".

Niccolò Canepa added: "I am satisfied and pleased with what we did in the three days. The electronics package was not new to me because I had already used ride-by-wire on the Ducati Superbike in 2008, and the following year in MotoGP. We clearly have a lot of work to do, but I honestly think we couldn't have begun our preparations for next season in a better way. There's a lot of room for improvement and I hope to be able to do a lot more mileage on the 1198 to arrive at the first rounds of next season in an ideal condition to do well. The atmosphere in the team is excellent and for me this is important to allow me to express myself to the full."

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Changes to the FIM Superbike, Supersport and FIM Superstock Cup Regulations

Some more details of changes to the championship regulations were delivered by the FIM today in a press release. A précis of the main points follows:

* For Immediate Application - Practice by riders and teams contracted to compete in the FIM Superbike World Championship is prohibited from the 1st of December until the 15th of January.

* From January 1st 2012, the date of birth of all prospective Superstock riders must fall between 1st January 1986 and 29th March 1996.

* In Superbike, Supersport and Superstock classes, as of 2012 there will be only one motorcycle per rider on race weekends. In Supersport each rider will have only eight engines at his disposal for the entire season, while in the Superstock class there will be a limit of three engines per rider for an entire season.

* The balancing rules between various motorcycle concepts will be changed, with further details to be passed on at a later date. New minimum weights have been brought in for 1200cc twins in the Superbike class - 171kg - up six kilos on the starting base of 2011. Fours remain at 165kg, but there will be no tolerance on the minimum weight for any type of machine.

* All pre-Superpole practice and qualifying session in the Superbike class will now be of 45 minutes duration, and Superpole itself will run to a new timetable.

* In the case of a Dry Superbike Superpole, the first 16 riders will qualify for Superpole 1, the first 12 riders in Superpole 1 will go into Superpole 2, and the top eight riders from that session will go forward to Superpole 3. In the case of a Wet Superpole having been declared, The first 16 riders will take part in wet Superpole 1, which will last for 20-minutes. The fastest eight riders will go into Superpole 2, which will also last for 20 minutes.

* There will be no flag-to-flag races in Superbike, and if the Race Director considers that a dry race has become wet he can interrupt the race to allow riders to change to wet tyres. Wet races will not be interrupted for climatic reasons. If a race has been stopped for climatic reasons, then the restart will automatically be a wet race.

* All riders competing in the race at the time the red flag was shown will be able to restart if they are ready for a restarted race.

* New penalties for riders can now include a drop of position, plus a drop of any number of grid positions at the rider's next race, as well as other existing penalties.

Final rules will be published soon.

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Hill and Hopkins to ride in MotoGP for 2012?

Hill and Hopkins to ride in MotoGP for 2012?

Fresh from their dramatic battle and photo finish at Brands Hatch, it is possible that both new British Superbike champion Tommy Hill and runner-up John Hopkins could find a place on the MotoGP grid for 2012. 

Hopkins has long made it clear that his goal is to ride in MotoGP again, with his move to the Crescent Suzuki BSB team always intended as a stepping stone back to the factory Suzuki grand prix team, both being run by Paul Denning. 

Hopkins raced for the team between 2003 and 2007, the final year of which he finished an impressive fourth in the championship standings.

But Suzuki's continued stalling may force Hopkins to look elsewhere. LCR Honda have also shown an interest, but Hopkins faces stiff competition from their ex-rider Randy de Puniet and present Suzuki MotoGP star Alvaro Bautista, also trying not to get left out of a ride by the factory's indecision over next season.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Paul Bird, who has lost his factory Kawasaki contract in World Superbikes for next season, has submitted his plans to run a one rider team in MotoGP next season.

Although the new privateer CRT teams have been less than impressive in testing so far, the prestige of stepping up to the premier-class would be a huge draw for any rider and team, and the swelling of bike numbers in MotoGP is long overdue.

Tom Sykes, who has raced for Bird's Kawasaki WSBK squad for the past two seasons, has unsurprisingly been linked to the ride, as has fellow WSBKparticipant Leon Camier.

However, following his intense battle for the BSB title, Tommy Hill has also launched himself into the fray as a possible contender for Bird's new team, if all goes ahead as planned.

Should both Hill and Hopkins obtain MotoGP rides next season, fans of the sport will no doubt be hoping they retain the hunger and determination displayed in this year's BSB championship, and bring some much needed excitement and overtaking with them.

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