Ducati has pulled out of the 2011 Superbike World Championship, bringing an end to it's 22-year association with the series.

Ducati has pulled out of the 2011 Superbike World Championship, bringing an end to the Italian manufacturer's 22-year association with the series.

A staunch supporter of the championship since it was first run in 1988, Ducati will instead direct its racing operations to the MotoGP World Championship after signing Italian rider Valentino Rossi from Yamaha.

The company will still supply machines to privateer teams and officially concentrate its efforts on developing road-going motorcycles.

But the effort it will direct towards having Rossi, an Italian on an Italian machine, will have made its attempts to win the superbike world title pale into insignificance.

Having won 13 riders' world titles, including four for Britain's Carl Fogarty, and 16 manufacturers' crowns, Ducati has decided to turn its back on a series it at one time backed while various of the four Japanese manufacturers shunned it.

"This decision is part of a specific strategy made by Ducati, the aim being to further increase technological content in production models that will arrive on the market in the coming years," said Gabriele Del Torchio, president and chief executive of Ducati.

"In order to achieve this objective, the company's technical resources, until now engaged with the management of the factory Superbike team, will instead be dedicated to the development of the new generation of hypersport bikes, in both their homologated and Superbike race versions.

"I would like to thank (current factory team riders) Nori (Haga) and Michel (Fabrizio), and all of the riders that have contributed to the great history of Ducati in Superbike, but above all the Ducati employees; it is their hard work and professionalism that has allowed us to achieve such important results.

"A big thank you also to all of the partners that have supported us, first and foremost Xerox of course. I would also like to acknowledge the Flammini brothers who have managed the championship for so long, and the FIM, the organisation with which we have continuous, constructive relations."

Infront Motor Sports, rights holders to World Superbikes, expressed their disappointment at Ducati's decision.

"We are disappointed and also a bit surprised at Ducati's decision," said Paolo Flammini, CEO of Infront Motor Sports.

"Especially since we have been asked numerous times for a change in the regulations to bring about a better balancing of twin-cylinder 1200cc machines towards the four-cylinder 1000cc bikes, but it must be mentioned that last year, without the presence of a phenomenal Ben Spies, the Ducati 1198 would have dominated the championship with Haga and Fabrizio, and it is therefore difficult for us today to comprehend this decision, which of course we must respect.

"Moreover the FIM Superbike World Championship can today boast the participation of six manufacturers in addition to Ducati, with Aprilia, BMW, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha and is therefore obliged to maintain a total balance in the regulations, without privileging one or other manufacturer in particular.

"We are however pleased that Ducati has confirmed its technical support for private teams that will be competing with its models in the 2011 championship and that the development of its new generation of hypersport bikes, in both homologated and Superbike race versions, will continue."