FOUR-TIMES World Superbike champion Carl Fogarty officially split from Ducati today.
And he\'s now expected to be installed as the man to spearhead Sauber\'s surprise World Superbike effort in 2002.
Ducati announced this afternoon that they have decided to end their long-standing relationship with the British legend, who is currently still recovering from a broken leg he suffered while testing a CCM supermoto.
Foggy, who was forced to quit racing after suffering a serious left arm injury at Phillip Island last year, was in the first of a three-year agreement as ambassador for the Italian manufacturer.
Ducati said in a official statement that their relationship was dissolved after a personal request from the Lancastrian, who has been linked with running Sauber\'s WSB effort.
Foggy, the most successful World Superbike racer in history, was released by Ducati because they didn\'t want to stand in his way as he pursues other projects.
The Ducati statement said: \"Ducati Motor Holding and Carl Fogarty wish to announce that they have decided to go their separate ways and dissolve their long-term relationship.
\"He recently made a specific request to Ducati for the relationship to be dissolved so that he could concentrate on other projects, incompatible with his role, and Ducati, which has always had the highest regard for the British champion, decided that it was right to allow Carl the possibility of embarking on a new adventure.\"
We\'ll hopefully bring you some reaction from Foggy himself later.