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2013 World Superbike
Following three years with BMW Italia, the Italian Ayrton Badovini has signed with the Alstare Ducati team to compete in the 2013 World Superbike Championship.
The 26-year old will contest aboard the new Ducati 1199 Panigale and be teammates with 2011 World SBK Champion Carlos Checa.
Ayrton Badovini (Alstare Ducati 1199 Panigale Superbike) says: "In the last few weeks my world has been turned upside-down in every aspect, both professional and personal. It’s all a new challenge but the agreement with Ducati and Alstare represents something prestigious that I never really expected. It’s a great opportunity, one of those that every rider hopes to have in his career and finally for me it’s arrived."
Badovini has spent the last two years in WSBK, contesting aboard the BMW Italia S1000RR. His best finishes aboard the inline four were 12th overall in 2012, and 10th overall in 2011. In 2010, Badovini competed on the BMW Italia S1000RR in the FIM Superstock 1000 championship, taking the title.
The challenge for 2013 will be adapting to the twin-cylinder 1199, which still needs much development to be competitive alongside the bikes of other teams, most notable the BMW S1000RR, Aprilia RSV4 and Kawasaki ZX-10R. Plus, the Alstare Ducati team is new to the series, though both sides are working hard to be race ready ahead of 2013 World SBK.
Ayrton Badovini says: "I really don’t have any idea of what to expect next year, except for a lot of hard work and a professional approach. I am sure that we will be able to work well with Carlos Checa and this will help to guarantee the development of the bike and the project.
"At the end of the month I’ll get my first test with the bike, we’ll begin to get an idea of its characteristics and then after the winter break we’ll start to prepare for the season ahead. I don’t know what our initial target will be but, as I said before, it’s important to improve the bike. I feel sure that we will do a good job."
Alstare Ducati’s first track outing is scheduled for this week at Jerez in Spain together with several other World Superbike teams.
