Ducati pins MotoGP hopes on re-organisation

The Italian company also backed Andrea Dovizioso - confirmed for next season alongside Nicky Hayden - to help the manufacturer to improve its form over the past two years.

Ducati has not won a race since Casey Stoner triumphed in Australia in late 2010.

In the past two years, with Valentino Rossi and Hayden at the helm it has taken just three podiums, the most recent of which came in wet conditions at Le Mans this year.

Ducati president Gabriele del Torchio says Dovizioso's arrival overlaps with a wider re-organisation in the hunt for future success.

"We are working on a re-organisation of the racing department," del Torchio told Gazzetta dello Sport. "We are discussing this together with our friends from Audi.

"We'll take advantage of their technology, especially electronics and simulator models.

"We have chosen Andrea because he has demonstrated the characteristics that we think could be useful: a fine tester, he has deep knowledge of bikes and is a fighter, as demonstrated by his five podiums this year.

"He is 26 with a future ahead of him, he is a conscientious and judicious person who uses his head. He is not the gung-ho type. He will help us in the improvement path that unfortunately isn't finished yet but that we want to keep following.

"Two years ago we had great expectations. We had thought we could only do better. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.

"But our motto is to never give up: let's work, fix what hasn't worked and get back on the improvement path. Ducati fans deserve better results. We are still capable of building the bikes, building real Ducatis."

Del Torchio admitted there was a tinge of bitterness over Rossi's decision to leave Ducati for Yamaha, which he feels was influenced by the Italian's crash at Laguna Seca.

"[There is] a bit of bitterness for having been unable to satisfy the desires of the rider, who has been unable to interpret our bike's characteristics," he revealed.

"The Ducati bike did not meet Valentino's expectations, everything got off to a bad start. Sometimes people who get married realise love isn't the only glue.

"I think Valentino was heavily torn between [Ducati and Yamaha] until the end. After his strange crash at Laguna he decided that his target at 33 is to get immediate results, so he made a different choice. We leave each other in harmony, however."

He added that he remains confident that Ducati can bounce back from its recent travails, saying: "We count on being closer (to the top). Work and intelligence can't avoid rewarding you.

"I know, when you look at the results it's a bit like cursing in a church, but as Batman says 'the night is darker just before sunrise.' I'm sure our sunrise will soon come.