but it's not like Ducati didn't know about the restrictions.
The highest ranked Ducati in WSBK is nearly 100 pts behind. That's embarrassing.
and in motogp, they were winning races in the first years. even finishing as high as second in the constructors' championship before Stoner's romp. while not dominating, it wasn't a dog like it is now. but it got progressively worse the more preziosi messed with it.
and really, who counts superstock. WSS gets more respect.
Of course they knew about the restrictions. They also knew that the old motor design wasn't capable of winning anymore, so something drastic had to be done. I'm sure they're hoping to get the intake restrictions eased.
The Superstock comment was just to show that the new motor is capable of running at the front, as is the chassis. Keep in mind too...Checa has been hurt all season, which makes the results look even worse.
All that said, I have no idea why Ducati doesn't just dump the twin for a V4 for their SBKs so it isn't an issue.
The spec tire is what largely killed their GP bike, not necessarily the chassis. The bike was a dog as soon as the spec. Bridgestones were introduced, and they've never been able to recover, even after dumping Preziosi's frameless design for a twin spar chassis a couple years ago. It wasn't ever a great bike though.