Team Effenbert Liberty Ducati launch 2012 team in style

The five man World Superbike and Superstock 1000 Effenbert Liberty Ducati team unveiled their team in a glamorous launch high up in the Piemonte mountains in Italy.

The three man Superbike team of Sylvan Guintoli, Jakub Smrz and new recruit Maxime Berger made an impressive debut in 2011 with both Guintoli and Smrz securing podium finishes during the season.

Despite a big crash at the opening round of the championship which robbed Guintoli of a chance to secure a podium result the Frenchman recovered well and finished the season strongly to claim an impressive sixth place in the overall championship standings.

For 2012 the three men will remain with the team onboard the proven Ducati 1098R’s direct from the factory and come complete with dedicated Ducati Corse engineers.

Given their success last year the team have upped their commitment in the championship in terms of team infrastructure and personnel including new team manager Fabio Alberti and are clearly aiming high when it comes to results in 2012.

Team owner and the CEO Mario Bertuccio said: “We are here to win the championship! I can see already now that there’s a great possibility to make this dream come true.”

In Superstock 1000 new riders Brett McCormick from Canada and Federico Sandi from Italy will campaign the all new Ducati 1199 Panigale. McCormick a former Canadian Superbike champion said:

“I got to do the test last October and the team is a great bunch of guys. Good chemistry, good people, I’m super satisfied. It’s hard to be successful if you don’t surround yourself with good people. It’s hard to say what I expect coming in because it’s my first full year over here, but I think I’m definitely capable of winning races and I’ve heard really good things about the new bike.”

The significance of both the Superbike and especially the Superstock 1000 project was underlined by the presence of Ducati’s WSB and Panigale project leader Ernesto Marinelli at the launch. He said:

“I’m very happy to see that the team is growing. Now, they have 2 riders in Superstock and it’s an important class for us because it’s more close to the production motorcycle. On one hand, there are many differences between the new Ducati and the old one, on the other hand there are very few. Many from the technological point of view, we installed in this new bike all the highest technology that we’ve learnt from racing over the past 5 year. The similarities? It’s still a Ducati. We wanted to keep the familiar feeling, the characteristics and the feedback that the bike gives to the rider, of course with the emphasis on performance, lightness and beauty.”