Fogarty, who officially retired from racing at the end of the 2000 season after a crash at Phillip Island, brought an end to his racing career, was in the first year of a three-year agreement as ‘ambassador’ for the Italian manufacturer.

He recently made a specific request to Ducati for the relationship to be dissolved so that he could concentrate on other projects.

Carl Fogarty is the most successful World Superbike racer of all time. The 36 year-old from Blackburn, England won four World Superbike titles with Ducati in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999. He took part in 219 races, winning 59 (55 for Ducati), a total that included 15 double wins. He finished on the podium 108 times and set 21 pole positions (all Ducati) and 31 fastest laps (all Ducati).

The ultra-successful Fogarty-Ducati partnership started off in 1992, with the Englishman finishing ninth overall in the World Superbike Championship. He scored the first of 55 wins in front of his home crowd at Donington in 1992 with a Ducati 888 and won his first WSBK title in 1994, following this up with title number 2 in 1995, both on a Ducati 916. After a one-year break
away from Ducati he returned to the red twin-cylinder bike in 1997, finishing runner-up, and then clinched his third and fourth titles in 1998 and 1999 on a Ducati 996. Carl’s final race on a Ducati was the Australian Round of the 2000 season, when he crashed out and broke his upper left arm.