Alstare Ducati’s Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini had a slight improvement during this weekend’s Portimao round.
The Spaniard was able to finish 9th and 6th, while the Italian suffered a fuel line issue in race one that caused him to DNF and in race two finished in 8th, which gave the team some hope, especially in the upcoming Imola round, where the Ducati Panigale will now longer be constrained by air restrictors, which should give them four to five additional ponies to play with.
However, Francis Batta was once again upset with Ducati, and once again Max Biaggi was the object of contention between the team owner’s ideas and the manufacturer’s decisions.
Batta had almost fought with Bernhard Gobmeier because he wanted the Roman Emperor to test the 1199 Panigale and become a test rider.
The Alstare Ducati team manager believed that Biaggi would not only provide useful feedback, but his presence would have also garnered media attention and sponsors, instead Ducati just a few weeks after Batta’s public outcry at Donington Park, turned around and let Biaggi test the Desmosedici.
Speaking to Sportmediaset’s Italia 1 at Portimao, Batta said, “What suprises me, and I risked arguing with Bernhard Gobmeier about it, as I wanted Max to test the Panigale, and then they turn around and have him test the MotoGP bike.
I really don’t understand Ducati’s strategy, because at this point Max could have also tested the Superbike.
”Batta also added, “Max is the reigning World Superbike champion and I feel very close to him, so if there was this opportunity I would have loved to see it come true.
I’m really sorry, because we had studied a great project for both Max and Ducati, but in the end other people decided otherwise.
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