2011 MotoGP
Following top-10 finishes in Sunday’s Brno MotoGP, Ducati Team riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden remained at the track, participating in an official test Monday.
During the test, Rossi, who finished sixth on Sunday, completed 75 laps, working just with the GP11.1. This is the revamped version of the Ducati Team’s MotoGP bike, which Rossi has been struggling with throughout the season.
Thinking about the remaining seven MotoGP races, Valentino Rossi dedicated the Brno test session to trying various setups and weight distributions. These tests will also aid the Ducati team as they prep for 2012, which will allow for the use of 1000cc MotoGP machines.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team GP11.1 MotoGP) says: “It was a very busy day, not only because we did almost 75 laps, but also because we tried many changes in every outing. It’s not easy riding like that, as it requires a lot of concentration.
“We had some electronic updates that we still have to perfect, but we’ll return to those soon. Apart from that, we were thinking more toward the future, mainly trying different geometries, weight distributions, and settings that were a little strange, everything to remove any doubts and to understand some things about the GP11.1.
“I’d say it was a successful test, even if we sacrificed some performance since we had other objectives. We also tried some new MotoGP tires from Bridgestone, and the first impression was good.”
The American Hayden, who finished seventh at Brno MotoGP, spent time testing both the Ducati GP11 and GP11.1, placing the most emphasis on the base setup of the GP11.1. Hayden completed 78 laps at Brno Monday.
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team GP11.1 MotoGP) says: “Everything went pretty well today. We didn’t break any track records or anything, but luckily the rain held off. I did one run this morning with the GP11 just to start from zero and then went straight in on the GP11.1. Like at Laguna, I was immediately just as fast, but steadily through the day, I was quicker and quicker.
“Once again, the team worked like dogs, between working on my race bikes and preparing for the test. I enjoyed riding the bike, and it’s always nice to see progress and have a good feeling, I plan to ride it at Indy. My sister’s getting married this weekend, so we’ve got a pretty special two weeks coming up between that and my home GP.”
Filippo Preziosi (Ducati MotoGP Technical Director) says: “With Valentino Rossi, we decided to use this test day with the 800 in order to try very extreme setup solutions, with the goal of giving the engineers guidance for the next-generation bikes.
“Therefore, we brought parts that allowed us to make much bigger adjustments than is normally possible. Practically, these are tests that help us to understand what happens when you move the center of gravity significantly or increase stiffness by an extreme amount, and so on. The mid-term goal is to build the base know how for the bike of the future.”
