AMA Superbike: Pegram Parts with Ducati

AMA Superbike News

After two successful AMA Superbikes seasons aboard the 1098R, Foremost Insurance / Pegram Racing announced on Monday that the team will be splitting with Ducati for 2011.

The Ducati privateer effort, funded by racer Larry Pegram, has been very successful for not having factory backing, finishing fourth overall in 2009 and 2010.

Without factory backing, it’s very challenging for a privately-funded team to be competitve, but Pegram has proven this wrong year after year on the Ducati. And as the motorcycle industry continued to descend over the past few years, privateer efforts such as the Pegram / Ducati team were targeted with additional financial stress.

Pegram has split with Ducati, but this doesn’t mean him and his team will not be competing in the 2011 AMA Superbike season. In the coming week, Foremost Insurance/ Pegram Racing says it will announce details of its plan to compete in the 2011 AMA Pro Racing Superbike Series.

Larry Pegram says: “I truly appreciate each and every fan who came to the races to cheer on
the team. Ducatisti are very enthusiastic about racing and that really helped our good races become great races.”

“I am very proud of the results that Foremost Insurance / Pegram Racing achieved for Ducati and I am very appreciative of the support they gave the team, especially Michael Lock and the employees of Ducati North America and Corse. It is with a very heavy heart, that I announce we will be unable to continue racing with the brand in 2011.”

In a press release, Foremost Insurance / Pegram Racing says the following:

“Foremost Insurance / Pegram Racing would like to express our sincere appreciation to all Ducati riders and fans who have supported our team with their positive thoughts, well wishes and cheers over the last several seasons.”

“Without such a strong, enthusiastic base of supporters cheering on the team, it would have been much more difficult to find that little extra to put Larry on top of the Superbike podium many times in 2009 and 2010.”

In the AMA Superbike championship, Foremost Insurance Pegram Ducati finished fourth overall this year, taking six podiums, which included a win at Auto Club Speedway in California. In 2009, Pegram also finished fourth overall; that year, he had three wins, and finished in the top-10 in all but two rounds. Pegram also competed on a Ducati in 2008 and 2007 in the former AMA Formula Xtreme class.

This isn’t the only big news in motorcycle racing regarding Ducati. From 2011 onwards, Ducati announced it will no longer compete with a factory team in the World Superbike Championship, and has decided to limit its participation to the supply of motorcycles and support to private teams.

The Italian manufacturer has participated with a factory team in every edition of the World Superbike Championship since it began in 1988, winning 16 Manufacturers’ world titles and 13 Riders’ world titles along the way.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.