The WSBK Saga Continues: Ducati Corse Talking to Alstare?

It seems we won’t get through each day of the week without an update on Ducati Corse’s World Superbike plans. After first hearing that Ducati Corse and Althea Racing had parted ways, with Ducati then confirming the news, it seems now the Italian brand is being linked to the Belgian Alstare Team, previously of Suzuki fame.

Talks between Ducati Corse and Team Alstare have been confirmed by Team Principal Francis Batta, with the negotiations between the two parties set to conclude tomorrow. Interestingly enough, the conclusion of the Alstare deal is fresh on the news of Althea Racing’s split from Ducati, which only adds more fuel to the speculation about the two parties.

An accomplished team that carried the development of the WSBK-spec Suzuki GSX-R1000 until 2011, Team Alstare sat out the last season, after Suzuki pulled complete support from the World Superbike Championship for 2012.

Hoping to field a factory-backed World Supersport effort in 2012 with MV Agusta, that deal also fell through, after the Italian manufacturer realized that it did not have the budget to race the F3. After the dissolution of that partnership, Batta says his attention then turned to Ducati.

Looking to become Ducati’s factory-backed squad in 2013, it is being rumored that Sylvain Guintoli could be a second rider in the squad, partnering up with former-World Champion Carlos Checa. Guintoli’s fate though is subject to funding, and it remains a possibility that the “Alstare Ducati” team could field only a single rider.

The French rider certainly has shown his worth on a Ducati superbike, after posting some solid results with the Effenbert Liberty Racing team last season, before of course the Czech-based team finally collapsed in on itself like a dying star.

If tapped to go to the factory Ducati team, the move would make sense out of Guinters’ recent decision to back out of a contract with the Fixi Crescent Suzuki team — a move that had been previously linked to an Aprilia Racing contract possibility.

Stay tuned World Superbike fans and Ducatisti, we should have yet another installment of this sage tomorrow.