Last week, in what was an apparently frigid outdoor press call and party, Althea Racing showed off its new 2011 livery. The bike, ridden by Carlos Checa in next season’s World Superbike championship, showcased more red than the team’s livery last season, with “Althea” and most of the blue having disappeared from the bike entirely. While main sponsor Unibat, a battery company, kept its name placement from the 2010 season’s livery, quite a bit of what had been white on the bike was filled in with Ducati red. So much so, the 2011 livery could nearly be mistaken for the 2010 Ducati Xerox livery.
Althea will use the same livery on the Ducati, ridden by Lorenzo Baroni, in both the Superstock 1000 and Italian Superbike championship. According to the team in its press release, “The presentation of Althea Racing’s Ducati gave added value to an already impressive line-up of bikes”, commented Team Principle Luigi Termignoni. ‘The Italian motorcycle manufacturer has always participated in SBK and we are proud to be able to equip Genesio Bevilacqua’s Ducati outfit in 2011.”
Team manager/owner Genesio Bevilacqua was not at the event, though he was quoted in the release, “Termignoni Day was the ideal occasion in which to unveil our new 2011 colours. It was already our intention to exhibit the bike at the party and so we were very happy to receive an invite and to be able to present the bike at such a unique event.” The 2011 race bike was a facet of the “Termignoni Day” festivities at the new headquarters in Predosa, Italy.
According to the WSBK website story of the event, “The main difference in the livery is…in line with the team’s de facto official status.” While such a status might be conferred, the team has been downsized to just one rider, the aforementioned Carlos Checa, for 2011. Checa placed third in the championship and ended the 2010 season with three victories for Althea. 2010 teammate Shane Byrne has moved to British Superbike, and will race for HM Plant Honda this coming season.
Source: Althea Racing
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