During the interview we conducted live with Davide Tardozzi (watch the video HERE) and about the present and future of Ducati in MotoGP, we spoke to the Italian manager about World SBK, a championship in which Davide drove and worked with top drivers such as Fogarty, Corser, Bayliss and Haga to name a few.
Tardozzi gave us his opinion on Ducati’s chances of winning the title with the Panigale V4 in 2021. using the unknown factor to find out how much progress Kawasaki has made with the new motorcycle. We then discovered with Davide some interesting stories about Fogarty’s career at Ducati and how important his wife Michaela was.
“I think Jonathan is really very good. He’s fast and uses his head a lot – Tardozzi told us – Kawasaki invests a lot, but he’s also very good.” We hope Scott Redding, Michael Rinaldi and Chaz Davies can beat him this year. I think Scott in particular has a chance to fight it out. He got off to a good start in 2020, then he had some problems, but in my opinion he learned a lot in his first season and will prevail. I saw and felt that he was really convinced of his possibilities ”.
Tardozzi: “Rea could have made it to MotoGP two years ago, but it’s too late now”
Rea in MotoGP is an opportunity that has never been seen before. What do you think about it?
“In recent years, Jonathan Rea has missed this opportunity mainly because of his age. However, a few years ago his manager looked into the possibility of going to MotoGP. I think he did very well the two MotoGP races he did with Honda instead of Stoner, he achieved two top ten finishes. And the Honda guys asked him not to fall. So hats off to Jonathan, in my opinion these two races were undervalued as he was forced not to fall. He was very good on his MotoGP debut. Then he tied himself to Kawasaki for SBK, he won a lot and now I think he’s 34 years old. He’s no longer really attractive for MotoGP. “
At Ducati you have always been the man in the garage, someone who can manage the drivers even in difficult moments. How did you deal with a “bulldog” like Fogarty?
“I’ve always had incredible strengths with Carl for a very simple reason. I realized that Michaela, his wife, was in charge of the Fogarty household. When I had her by my side, I knew everything was fine. She was very smart, and in my opinion the Fogarty family won four world championships, but Carl won two and Michaela won the other two. I say this because after winning ’94 and ’95 in 1998 when he took his third title, he wanted to quit in the middle of the season.
Tardozzi: “Fogarty has won four SBK World Championships. Two Carl and two Michaela!”
You have to tell us this story!
“He had two very bad races at the Nürburgring. I remember that he ended up outside the top 15. After Race 2 we went back to the garage and it disappeared and it was July Ducati history the following week. We thought he was just pissed off by this result. Only the WDW was the next week so I called him and he didn’t answer. So I decided to call Michaela, who openly said: ‘Carl wants me to tell you that he made a decision to quit racing and not want to come to WDW ‘. At that point, after telling her what I had to say on the phone, Michaela realized that Carl should definitely come to Misano for WDW and convinced him. “
In Misano at the WDW he didn’t want to race on the track, how did you convince him?
“He arrived in Misano on Thursday and it was raining. I asked him to drive to familiarize himself with the bike in the wet because he was not comfortable in these conditions and he replied, ‘No way’. So I had to talk to Michaela again, make it clear to her … in the end Carl went out, lapped and fell on the Quercia, fortunately slowly. The scene when he returned to the pits had to be filmed on cameras, but I knew I was right. It was a struggle to get him back on track, but he absolutely didn’t want to get out. In fact, he finished the WDW and then went home. I took a flight and went to see him in England. Michaela had set up a room for me and when Carl saw me at home, he said ‘but what are you doing here?’. I just replied that I had come to see his wife. Just think that Carl was very jealous. In the end, I stayed there for a few days and was able to calm him down, so he decided to race again and you all know how it went. He won the first two world championships, Michaela won the others for me. “
You have had many great and difficult moments at Ducati. Can you tell us someone who made you laugh heartily?
“Anything that made me laugh in my Ducati career? There’s a story, it’s really a bit of a joke. MeIn 2000, after Fogarty was injured on Phillip Island, we took Bayliss to the Sugo race and then Luca Cadalora came to Donington. Troy drove for us in AMA and we spontaneously called him to a race in Japan in Sugo. He was unlucky because they knocked him out twice so he had no chance to prove anything in the end. He wasn’t even bad in qualifying as he was the best Michelin driver in 11th place, but the qualifying Dunlops at the time were exceptional. He then came back to Monza with us, but that’s another story. “
Tardozzi: “Funny moments at Ducati? Cadalora gave me one”
So it was Cadalora’s turn to ride the motorcycle in Donington …
“Yes, Cadalora came to England, also because he was always very strong on this track and in Ducati we decided to give him a try. You will remember that great battle in 500 with Rainey. To be honest, Luca made a bad impression this weekend and I remember well what he said. Cadalora was an excellent test rider but he was very experienced with the 500. On our bike he came out with a legendary phrase: ‘But where do you think you’re going with those little tubes ... ‘ obviously refers to our trellis frame. So if we had to change the frame for years, we had to change the “tubes”. Luca is a friend and a great person, but that made me laugh. “
At least that opened the doors for Bayliss to return …
“Yeah, after that Bayliss came back and we all remember how it went. In Monza he made this absurd overtaking maneuver and then at Hockenheim he won, so he became a legend. “