With the “Moto dei Miti” collection serving as a wonderful backdrop, the 2014 Althea Racing team was presented yesterday in Civita Castellana in Italy. Genesio Bevilacqua’s team will take part in the World Superbike championship in the Evo category with a Ducati 1199 Panigale R piloted by Italian rider Niccolò Canepa. During the event, the livery of Canepa’s Ducati was unveiled in the presence of sponsors that have supported the Italian team’s activities for a number of years as well as Ducati’s Superbike Project Director Ernesto Marinelli. In just over a fortnight’s time, Canepa will take to the Phillip Island track in Australia for testing on 17 and 18 February and then for the first round of the Superbike Evo, taking place on 23 February on the same track.
Genesio Bevilacqua: “We are pleased and enthusiastic about embarking on this new adventure in the World Superbike Championship, competing in the Evo, the category of the future. It will undoubtedly be an interesting experience both for my team and for Ducati, that trusts us to develop the Panigale 1199 R in this new class. I have faith in Canepa, a young but already expert rider, who up until now has perhaps not had the chance to demonstrate his full potential. We will make all of the experience that our team has gained over the years available to our rider, to allow him to compete at the highest levels.”
Niccolò Canepa: “I’m very happy to become part of a winning family such as the Althea team. I am a member of a great team and know that I will have everything I need, both from a human and technical point of view. I just have to work on myself in order to make the most of this potential. We haven’t been able to test yet but we will do that in Australia in a couple of weeks. I know the Panigale well, having ridden it last year, both in races and development tests and this will help me to be quickly competitive. It won’t be easy of course, but our aim is to be consistently inside the front group.”
Ernesto Marinelli – Ducati’s Superbike Project Director – : “The Althea team is our reference in the Evo class. For Ducati, the Evo is a very important category, seeing as it represents the future of the world championship for production-derived bikes and so we are pleased to be able to count on a team that we know very well and with which we have achieved such fantastic results in recent years. We also know Canepa, and his potential, very well and we are confident that the Althea Racing team can complete a season at the highest levels.”
