Davide Tardozzi is a former Italian

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 Superbike

Superbike racing

Superbike racing is a category of motorcycle racing that employs modified production motorcycles. Superbike World Championship is the international superbike championship, and national superbike championships are held in many countries as well, including the United Kingdom, the United States,...

 racer and current race team manager.

After an unsuccessful attempt at competing in the 250cc Grand Prix

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix is the premier championship of motorcycle road racing currently divided into three distinct classes: 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP. The 125cc class uses a two-stroke engine while Moto2 and MotoGP use four-stroke engines. In 2010 the 250cc two-stroke was replaced...

 world championships in 1984

1984 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

The 1984 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 36th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Defending champion Freddie Spencer was the pre-season favorite to win the championship however, teething problems with Honda's new V4 and early season injuries squelched his hopes...

 and 1985

1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season

The 1985 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season was the 37th F.I.M. Road Racing World Championship season.-Season summary:Honda's Freddie Spencer gave a dominating performance becoming the first man to win the 250 and 500 championships in the same year. Defending champion Eddie Lawson finished in...

, Tardozzi turned his attentions to superbike racing. In the inaugural 1988 Superbike World Championship season

1988 Superbike World Championship season

The 1988 Superbike World Championship season was the inaugural F.I.M. Superbike World Championship season. The season started on April 3 at Donington Park, and finished on October 3 at Manfeild Autocourse after 9 rounds....

, Tardozzi won five races on a Yamaha

Yamaha Motor Company

, is a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company. Yamaha Motor is part of Yamaha Corporation and its headquarter is located in Iwata, Shizuoka. Along with expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized...

-powered Bimota

Bimota

Bimota is a small, Italian manufacturer of custom and production motorcycles. It was founded in 1973 in Rimini, Italy by Bianchi, Morri and Tamburini. The company name is a portmanteau derived from the first two letters of each of the three founders' surnames, i.e...

, more than any other competitor, yet still finished third in the championship due to inconsistent results. He claimed the 1988 Italian superbike national championship as consolation. Tardozzi was a seven times Italian Superbike Champion as a rider, and a five times winner in World Superbike championship races. In 1991 he was the 750cc Superbike European Champion.

After retiring from racing, he went on to be a successful team manager for the Ducati factory racing team, winning several Superbike World Championships with Carl Fogarty

Carl Fogarty

Carl 'Foggy' Fogarty is the most successful World Superbike racer of all time in terms of the number of championships and number of race wins...

, Troy Corser

Troy Corser

Troy Gordon Corser is a professional motorcycle road racer, the and Superbike World champion....

, James Toseland

James Toseland

James Michael Toseland is a former English motorcycle racer. Toseland was the World Superbike Champion on a Ten Kate Honda, who also won the Superbike World Championship on a Ducati. He is one of only two men, the other being Troy Corser, to have won the Superbike World Championship for two...

 and Troy Bayliss

Troy Bayliss

Troy Bayliss is a retired Australian motorcycle racer. During his career Bayliss won the Superbike World Championship three times, as well as the British Superbike Championship and a MotoGP race, all with Ducati. He finished his career after winning the 2008 World Superbike title...

. In total Tardozzi has won eight Riders' Championships as a Ducati team manager.

After his shock departure from Ducati at the end of the 2009

2009 Superbike World Championship season

The 2009 Superbike World Championship season was the 22nd season of the Superbike World Championship. It was the second season in which HANNspree had been the title sponsor of the championship...

 season, Davide Tardozzi made a no less surprising move to become the new team boss of the official BMW Motorrad squad in the 2010

2010 Superbike World Championship season

The 2010 Superbike World Championship season was the 23rd season of the Superbike World Championship...

World Superbike championship.