Davide Tardozzi
Davide Tardozzi ( born January 30, 1959 in Ravenna, Emilia -Romagna, Italy ) is a former Italian motorcycle racer and current team manager of the BMW works team in the Superbike World Championship.
- 2.1 As a racer
- 2.2 As a team manager
- 3.1 External links
- 3.2 Notes and references
Career
As a racer
After an unsuccessful attempt in 1984 and 1985 to gain a foothold in the 250 cc class of the Motorcycle World Championship, Davide Tardozzi focused on superbike race.
In the debut season of the Superbike World Championship in 1988 Tardozzi went for the Italian manufacturer Bimota at the start, began the self-made motorcycles with Yamaha engines. On April 3, 1988, the Italians won the first discharged Superbike World Championship race at Donington Park. He achieved this season a total of five race wins, more than any other pilot, but was only World Cup bronze medalist because of its inconstant performance. In the overall standings, he had at the end of the season, only 7.5 points behind World Champion Fred Merkel. In the Italian Superbike Championship Tardozzi could, however, win the title.
From 1990 until his career end at the end of the 1992 season the Italians worked for the Bolognese manufacturer Ducati test rider and started on private machines used in the World Cup, finished there but no front ranks more in the World Superbike Championship and could not move any further race wins. In the 750 cc Superbike Championship 1991 Tardozzi be secured, however, to Ducati the title.
As a team manager
After Tardozzi had retired from active racing, he worked in 1995 as a team leader at the promoter Ducati team, which started with full factory bikes in the Superbike World Championship and was in direct competition with the official factory team of Virginio Ferrari. 1996 won Davide Tardozzi with Australian Troy Corser his first drivers' title as team boss. After a forced break in 1997 Tardozzi led the 1998 Ducati Performance team, in turn, a factory-supported team in which the Briton Carl Fogarty won his third title.
For the 1999 season, the Italians moved as a team boss in the official Ducati factory team, which was launched this year with Troy Corser and Carl Fogarty. This task required of Tardozzi a lot of tact, since its drivers quasi accounted for at each race weekend victories among them, and were rivals on the track, but nevertheless had to work together in tires or component test and get everyone a fair Chence on the world title should. The Fogarty WM finally decided in his favor, Corser finished third, level on points with the American Honda rider Colin Edwards.
2000 has been Tardozzis Ducati team no role in awarding the World Cup title since Carl Fogarty favorite already on the second race weekend of the season crashed heavily in the Australian Phillip Iceland and had to end his career in the sequence. He was succeeded by the Australian Troy Bayliss, the sixth overall was in his debut year. In the 2001 season, Bayliss won just ahead of Colin Edwards the title, 2002, the Australians had also just a disadvantage compared to the Americans.
For the 2003 season Tardozzis factory Ducati team launched for the first time with the newly developed 999 F03, which was the Japanese four-cylinder competition vastly superior from the start. His rider Neil Hodgson and Ruben Xaus won 21 of 24 races held and made the title among themselves with the better end for the British Hodgson. 2004 Ducati 999 with the pilot James Toseland and Regis Laconi were similar dominant and Toseland gave Davide Tardozzi his sixth drivers' title as team boss. After a difficult 2005 season, Troy Bayliss went back to the factory team in 2006 and won there under Tardozzis guide his second title.
As, changed the head of the Ducati Superbike division, Paolo Ciabatti the promoter company of Superbike World Championship FGSport in March 2007, the Italians also took over the position as director of the entire Superbike race department at Ducati Corse. Followed in 2008 with Bayliss ' third World Cup Davide Tardozzis eighth and so far last drivers' title as team boss.
In early November, 2009, Davide Tardozzi his departure from Ducati known. He stressed that the decision was made for personal reasons and had nothing to do with the loss of the drivers' championship title at the U.S. Yamaha riders Ben Spies.
Ducati won in Tardozzis tenure as team manager in the works team since 1999, eight drivers and nine constructors' world championship titles in the Superbike World Championship.
On January 5, 2010 Tardozzi announced to act from the 2010 season as Team Manager of BMW factory team in the World Superbike Championship.
Achievements
As a racer
As a team manager
- 8 Superbike rider world champion title: 1996 with Troy Corser
- 1998 and 1999 with Carl Fogarty
- 2001, 2006 and 2008, with Troy Bayliss
- 2003 Neil Hodgson
- 2004 with James Toseland