A legendary team manager, Davide Tardozzi has left Ducati. image by gee bee images

While Superbike Team Manager Davide Tardozzi leaving Ducati might not have the same level of historical significance as the last days of Dr. T or Franco Farne, the latter of which was a second-generation Ducati employee and a true red soldier for the company, Tardozzi's departure does leave a very large hole at Ducati. For many World Superbike fans, Davide Tardozzi is the only team manager they have ever known.

Fiery, persuasive and at the same time disarmingly friendly, Tardozzi used all methods at his disposal in order to land championships for Ducati. When he handed Ducati the keys to the shop and resigned he'd won titles with a near who's who of Ducati Superbike history: Fogarty, Corser, Bayliss, Toseland and Hodgson. A nurturer, taskmaster and disciplinarian, Tardozzi knew racing and how to work with the enormous talent and egos of top riders.

Tardozzi in many ways is World Superbike. He very nearly won the title in the maiden year of the championship and remains the first rider to ever "double"—winning both races at the third round of the '88 championship (at Hockenhiem in May of 1988)

When much of the Superbike team moved to the MotoGP project, Tardozzi stayed true to Superbike, and never showed any public interest in the prototype series, aside from crewing for Troy Bayliss and the the historic '06 MotoGP win at Valencia.

Top riders rarely make good team managers but somehow Tardozzi was able to turn off that part of his life and morph into the best and most successful team managers that the WSBK paddock has ever seen. While his taskmaster reputation made him slightly unapproachable, once he shook your hand he remained friendly, polite and generous with his time.

He had two seasons left on his contract with Ducati and asked to be excused from it early, saying that he had lost motivation. There's little doubt that Tardozzi will find another home in racing.