I wonder what the fall out will be from the sale of Ducati to VW/Audi? The benefit is that they bring needed capital to grow the Ducati brand and improve production, quality control and stream line areas to create more profitability. One of these areas that could be "stream lined" by the bean counters is the racing department. With Moto GP results being so poor and the fact that the Doctor, Rossi, can't seem to get the project turned around into a winning package Ducati may just be tempted to pull out of Moto GP and save themselves a fortune and the embarrassment they are currently facing.
Racing, especially at Moto GP level, never works out to be a fiscally responsible plan. Generally only viable if you can partner with other sponsors and sell advertising to share the cost or look at the bigger picture of positive brand exposure across many different markets. This only works if you have a consistently competitive package of rider and equipment that is either winning or at least in contention for a win. Currently Ducati's Moto GP effort is probably garnering more negative impressions than positive ones. Obviously this is not hurting sales, as I believe unit numbers and market share is increasing. However, that could be driven by the successful World Superbike effort of Carlos Checca which has been farmed out to a satellite team.
While I enjoy the technology and spectacle of Moto GP, Superbikes makes more sense to me if I was a manufacturer of motorcycles, since they are derived from versions of bikes sold to the public. There is a direct link between sales and racing in Superbikes case. In Moto GP the bikes are prototypes that can not be purchased in any shape or form (except Ducati who released a limited edition Moto GP replica) There is no direct correlation between the money being spent racing and actual sales.
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