Ducati Marlboro Team riders Sete Gibernau and Loris Capirossi gave the
Desmosedici GP6 its first European outing at Catalunya today, continuing
the good work so far completed in Australia and Malaysia.
In pleasantly mild conditions, with track temperature reaching 27
degrees this afternoon, the pair focused on engine-braking set-up and
evaluating Bridgestone's latest tyres. Also on track here is test rider
Vittoriano Guareschi and the Development Team. Gibernau, Capirossi and
Guareschi continue testing here over the next two days and on Sunday
take part in the officially timed practice session, the traditional hors
d'oeuvre to the World Championship which commences at Jerez on March 26.
Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse director;
"We're happy because Bridgestone have made good progress at this track.
Today we did a lot of work on the engine-braking system, working with
software, that's why Sete and Loris didn't get to ride any really fast
laps. We hope the good weather continues over the next two days because
today's conditions were better than we had expected for this time of
year."
Sete Gibernau, 63 laps, 7th fastest, 1m 44.556s;
"We've gone through a lot of stuff today, so we are more or less where I
thought we'd be. Bridgestone have done a good job here, they've brought
a lot of different tyres and we've found a good direction with both the
front and the rear. As far as the bike goes, we're still working to
create a good base set-up. Right now, we don't have one. We want to
create a base here, confirm it during next week's Jerez tests, then keep
it through the year. We ran into a few engine-braking problems today but
the team did a good job finding their way out of that. We have a way to
go, we've got to keep our heads down, but both Bridgestone and the Team
are doing a good job."
Loris Capirossi, 71 laps, 14th fastest, 1m 45.253s;
"Today we worked on a few things, we had to sort a small problem with
the engine-braking, that's why we didn't go any quicker, because we were
concentrating on fixing the engine-braking, rather than working on a
bike set-up to that would give us faster lap times. It's never easy to
find a good set-up but we still have two more days here, so I'm happy
with what we've done so far. Bridgestone have done some good work. Their
latest front tyre is a big improvement over what we had here last year.
The front is good now and the rear is not so bad, they've done well."
