There was a time when Ducati was already present in 250, as in the photo above which represents Mike Hailwood in 1960, with his father Stan on the left, and on the right Oscar Folesani, mechanic seconded by the Ducati factory to assist Mike the Bike . The bike is the 250 twin-cylinder (55,25 x 40 mm) with desmodromic distribution specially made by Taglioni.
It was a little gem, in fact two coupled double overhead camshaft single-cylinder engines, with a central power take-off, which developed 37 horsepower at 11 rpm. This motorcycle was very expensive because it had been specially designed as a unique copy following an order from the wealthy father of Mike Hailwood. So all the parts had to be manufactured individually.
All this to say that at Ducati, we know quarters of liters. A return to this category would not displease Gigi Dall'Igna, the brand's current competition director: “ Personally, I am convinced that it would be better for Ducati to be present in Moto3. But we must progress step by step. Before considering launching into the Moto3 category, we must first finalize our MotoGP project. Only when we have achieved this can we think about the basis of participation in Moto3 ».
On a technical level, Ducati should not have any major difficulties in designing and manufacturing a small displacement machine. On the budgetary level, it's another story. The Audi-Volkswagen Group perhaps does not want to see the Bolognese spend its capital. This is possibly why the CEO Claudio Domenicali brakes with all four irons at the mention of the idea: “ Moto3 is a very interesting category, but it is outside of our immediate plans. A discussion took place within the racing department, but not with the entire company. So, it doesn't fit into the company's plan so far.
“I can't deny that it would be very interesting from the sporting side because you can develop young riders that the team could follow and take to the higher category, even if Moto2 is something in between that you would have to solve. Currently, our product development plan does not include a possible arrival in Moto3. But our product development plan is reviewed every year. »
Photos © Ducati
Source: crash.net
