By Tracy Hagen

Fed up with the lack of competitiveness and progress by Ducati, an on-line petition has been started by upset fans calling for Ducati to quit the MotoGP series rather than shame the brand further.

“We ask the responsible members of our beloved brand to stop the shame and irritation of its fans,” demands the petition. “We beg Ducati to either make a 360 degree turn going back to the carbon or tubular frame, or to quit competing Moto GP and concentrating in the WSBK championship.”

The recent MotoGP test at Sepang exposed the lack of improvement by Ducati’s engineers over the winter break. Nicky Hayden’s best lap time was two minutes, 2.110 seconds in the second session. That is 0.584 seconds than he qualified at in the 2012 Sepang MotoGP on a bike Hayden described as identical except for paint.

A year ago Hayden’s best lap time from the two Sepang tests was 2:01.609, a half second quicker than last week.

The authors of the petition finger Ducati’s fruitless efforts to develop an innovative frame as the cause of the problem.

“The route Ducati has chosen 3 years ago to go into the mainstream and abandon its differentiation, has not only resulted dramatic for the sportive results and the brands image, but it has also brought great embarrassment and sorrow to its loyal customers and fans.”

Two years ago Hayden lapped Sepang on the 800cc MotoGP bike at 2:01.469 in testing. Hayden has yet to better that time with Ducati’s 1000cc MotoGP bike.