2011 MotoGP
For the second time this season, the MotoGP Championship heads to Misano, San Marino – a home round for Ducati’s Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden.
The 13th of 18 MotoGP rounds, San Marino provides a very technical and slow layout, one that Rossi has mastered, considering he has three podiums, including two wins, since the series began racing at Misano in 2007.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team GP11.1 MotoGP) says: “We’ll be racing in front of our home fans at Misano, and obviously we’d like to do better than we have at recent races. Indianapolis was very difficult, and we would have preferred to arrive here in better shape, but we’re aware that much of our work is aimed toward the future.
“For the moment, we must take into account the possibility that our results won’t be satisfying, first for us but also for our fans. We’re all working at our maximum, both at the track and in the company, and in the meantime, we’ll try to do as well as the current situation allows.”
As for Rossi’s MotoGP teammate, the American Hayden has something to prove to himself at Misano. The Kentucky Kid’s best finish is 13th in the debut year of the track in 2007, which was followed by a DNS and two DNFs.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team GP11.1 MotoGP) says: “Indy was a bad race, but some how, some way, you’ve got to try to get over it and move on. Misano has been a tough track for me, because it seems like I can’t ever get through the first corner.
“It would be nice to catch a bit of a break, because I don’t feel like we’re always getting the results we deserve. We learned a lot about the new bike in Indy, so I hope we’ve got a good starting point there. We’ll see what the weather’s going to do. Hopefully it won’t be too hot, as that makes things more difficult for us. Anyway, we need to do our best and try to improve our bike.”
As the Ducati Team finds the best setup on the Desmosedici, and Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will be “supported as usual by the fans filling the Ducati grandstand in the “Variante Parco,” the first corner after the start-finish straightaway.”
The action for Rossi and Hayden gets underway Friday with the first two free practices at Misano MotoGP.
