Ducati boss against unifying MotoGP and World Superbikes

Ducati boss Claudio Domenicali is opposed to unifying MotoGP and World Superbikes, insisting that the two world championships can co-exist in the current dire economic climate.

There has been increased speculation that major powerbrokers in world bike racing were eyeing a unified MotoGP and WSB championship to counter the current global economic crisis.

But Ducati Corse CEO Domenicali has denied such drastic action needs to be taken, though he didn’t completely rule out a shock merger should economic situation dramatically worsen.

Motorcycle racing doesn’t benefit from the exclusivity that Formula One does, with MotoGP and WSB teams chasing the same sponsors.

Involvement in both series also puts an added financial strain on manufacturers like Ducati, which has a heavy presence in both MotoGP and World Superbikes.

But Domenicali is adamant both can survive and during Ducati’s official 2009 team launch today he said: “This is a very complex issue. Uniting two championships with two totally different histories is two very separate topics.

“I think a financial scenario which slows down the economy like now, we have to try and overcome this by cutting costs in each single championship.

“Another item from the economic scenario is something we could have tackled a couple of years ago, and that was, is it meaningful to have two world championships?

“The opinions on this are varied and it is difficult to find a summary of this issue in 30 seconds because there are many factors involved. There are many pros and cons.

“Looking at cars there is one championship that is much more important than the others. For motorcycles the situation is very different. Cost control can be achieved without uniting the two championships.

“The idea of overcoming this recession I think is not to be achieved by bringing together the two championships. To do this anyway would be extremely difficult and you would have to overcome many problems due to the rights and the different organisers.

“It would be very difficult. Clearly should things in the future change radically and the economic situation worsen, perhaps in the future maybe we have to come to that.”