BLACKBURN bullet Carl Fogarty has slammed suggestions that his Ducati team are deliberately holding back new engine parts in a bid to avoid weight penalties.

Superbike bosses have already considered plans to impose penalties on Fogarty and team-mate Troy Corser's Ducati 996s because they were threatening to run away with the championship.

And now the Italian firm have been accused of holding back further improvements and purposely losing races in order to avoid possible handicaps according to a story in the Motor Cycling News.

"It's an absolute joke," blasted Foggy.

"I took one look at the story this morning and I couldn't believe it.

"It's really annoyed me and it's going to annoy Ducati.

"I think the team have been working harder this season than at any time in the last five years so nothing could be further from the truth.

"It's the opposite of everything we stand for.

"These new parts have been ready since the start of the season but they don't work properly on the bike at the moment.

"We know the Hondas are quicker than us so we are pulling out all the stops to try and get the bits ready."

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