Copyright 2003, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Insiders say that Ducati North America and Ducati Corse want to support a two-rider team in the AMA Superbike Series in 2004, providing the company is able to homologate the short-stroke 999R.

Ducati’s 2003 season with the Dream Team Ducati and Ducati Austin customer teams has been a disaster so far: Dream Team Ducati imploded after putting Larry Pegram on the podium at Road America, and Ducati Austin replaced podium-less Anthony Gobert with Italian Giovanni Bussei after Road America.

Pegram sought legal advice after Road America, saying he hadn’t been paid, and blamed the team’s financial problems on LLC partner DeVeaux Hill cutting off promised funding.

Meanwhile, Gobert declared Ducati Austin’s 998RS “unrideable” after parking it mid-race several times, while his crew repeatedly said that there was nothing wrong with the motorcycle.

One Gobert associate said after Road America that “Valentino Rossi would finish fourth or fifth on that bike, it’s so badly prepared.”