Sete Gibernau gets first taste of the Ducati Desmosedici and Bridgestone
tyres in poor weather conditions - Loris Capirossi tests latest version
of the engine-braking system used at the start of the year.
Valencia (Spain), Wednesday 9 November 2005 - The Ducati Desmosedici
took to the track today for its first winter test, just three days after
Sunday's final round of the MotoGP championship.
Unfortunately the mild sunny weather that characterized the last race of
the 2005 season gave way to cold conditions with several drops of rain
that prevented the Ducati Marlboro Team and the other riders on the
track from getting close to the times recorded over the weekend.
As a result Sete Gibernau's awaited debut on the Italian bike was
conditioned by the weather. The rain that fell late in the morning
forced everyone to stop for a break, then after returning to the track
in the afternoon Sete completed a total of 32 laps on the 'standard'
version of the Desmosedici.
Gibernau managed to get his first run with the Italian V4 bike as well
as with Bridgestone tyres, and despite the poor conditions the Spanish
rider was impressed.
"Every minute that passes I am more convinced that I made the right
decision" declared Sete. "I know that it was a difficult choice to make
but this is a great source of motivation for me. The team is fired up
and really wants to do well. The first time is always a step into the
unknown but I got on well with all the guys. I knew everything was going
to be different - the engine, the tubular steel frame instead of
aluminium, Bridgestone tyres and Ohlins suspension, and so the feeling
on the bike is completely different. I will have to change my style a
bit and also the character of the bike to feel entirely at ease with it,
but there is a lot of good potential here."
It was also back to work today for Loris Capirossi, whose fitness is
slowly but constantly improving. The Italian was scheduled to test with
the engine-braking system that had been tried at Jerez during the GP in
April and which has been developed throughout the year by official
test-rider Vittoriano Guareschi. As the system is still in an
experimental phase, Loris, who completed 19 laps, concentrated on
providing feedback for future development rather than the search for
outright performance. Unfortunately today's conditions prevented the
team from getting the most out of the test, which will continue
tomorrow, weather permitting.
"My physical condition and the poor weather certainly didn't help me in
this test today" declared Loris. "The system has for sure been improved
since the first version we used at the start of the year, but the track
wasn't in an ideal condition to help us understand exactly the
development level of the system. Let's hope the weather improves for
tomorrow so we can continue working."
