Ducati recently finished its first series of official MotoGP testing at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, beset by the typically hot and humid conditions and rain that interrupted track time. Nicky Hayden had a painful shoulder injury that limited valuable time on the bike, limiting input to the technicians as well as getting a feel for the new machine. Valentino Rossi continued until the rain arrived, finishing the session with the fifth-best time behind Honda's Casey Stoner, Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo, Honda's Dani Pedrosa and Yamaha's Ben Spies
Technical changes
A big part of the progress the team has made is due to the twin-spar aluminum frame, which provides better feel of what the front end is doing, something that Rossi has been concerned with throughout the 2011 season (and which he alludes to in his comments below).
While Fillipo Preziosi, general manager Ducati Corse, is happy with the overall progress that has been made so far, he hasn't revealed details of the changes that have been made. Preziosi expressed concern that while the GP12 is performing better than the previous version, the gap to Stoner's Honda is still 1.2 seconds, but the gap to the Yamaha's is half that.
Here's what the riders had to say:...more
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