Following a successful shakedown test at the hands of Franco Battaini and Vittoriano Guareschi, Ducati has announced that its MotoGP race riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will try the 2012 Ducati at Jerez.
Today (Friday) will see Rossi ride the GP12, with Hayden getting track time on Saturday – at the same circuit where he [...]
Following a successful shakedown test at the hands of Franco Battaini and Vittoriano Guareschi, Ducati has announced that its MotoGP race riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will try the 2012 Ducati at Jerez.
Today (Friday) will see Rossi ride the GP12, with Hayden getting track time on Saturday – at the same circuit where he took Ducati’s first podium of the season last Sunday.
With the Ducati test team concentrating on development of this year’s GP11, Rossi and Hayden will be supported by race team mechanics and engineers – under the supervision of technical director Filippo Preziosi – for the GP12 test.
2012 MotoGP rules allow a maximum engine size of 1000cc, although it is not clear if Ducati (or the other manufacturers) will use the full capacity allowed.
Ducati is the first of the MotoGP manufacturers to let its race riders test the 2012 bike. Both Rossi and Hayden are already under contract with the Italian factory until the end of next season.
Click here to watch Nicky’s interview with MotoGP.com after testing.
Despite still feeling the slight after effects of arm surgery from two weeks ago, Nicky Hayden made impressive progress on the Desmosedici GP10 of the Ducati Marlboro team at the Sepang test.
Not entirely happy with how things went on the opening day, Friday was a far more satisfying session for Hayden as he set a time of 2’00.703 – the third fastest of the test as the new engine in his GP10 prototype showed its competitiveness.
“I am obviously really happy because the changes we made yesterday afternoon that enabled me to go a couple of tenths faster despite the heat have proved to work even better today with the track in improved condition,” said Hayden. “After making small steps for the last few test sessions today we have finally taken a big leap forward and I was able to ride fast.”
He added: “The arm wasn’t too bad but it still isn’t as strong as before, which I can feel more than anything in the hard braking, and it was hard work today. Anyway, I am recovering well and now we move on from Sepang feeling really happy.”
Hayden’s team-mate Casey Stoner was second on the timesheet behind Valentino Rossi, as both the Ducati machines came inside the top three times of the test.
