Andrea Dovizioso Hopes for a Better Result at Assen

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With the 2013 season having passed its one-third mark at the Catalan Grand Prix, the Ducati Team now travels to the Netherlands’ legendary TT Circuit Assen, the northernmost point on the MotoGP calendar. The championship’s longest-standing round and its only race to be held on a Saturday, Assen is a unique event that is rich in history. The circuit has undergone several modifications over the years, including a slight revision last year, but one thing that has never varied is the huge crowd of fanatical spectators that the event invariably draws.

Nicky Hayden has enjoyed the Assen TT since he started in MotoGP in 2003, and it played host to one of his three victories, in 2006 (his championship-winning year). Although Dovizioso has never been victorious at the Dutch track, he has a solid record of respectable results there, including premier-class podium finishes in each of his last two visits.

Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team

“First of all, the weather should certainly be a bit cooler in Holland than it was in Barcelona, and that can only be good for us. The Assen circuit isn’t like it used to be when it was one of the nicest tracks on the calendar, and it’s completely different from the last couple of tracks we’ve been to. I’m curious to see how the Desmosedici will go at Assen. We’ll use the same bike that we had at Barcelona, so without the updated frame. I must admit that I haven’t had much luck at Assen and that I’ve only had a pair of third-place finishes in the last two years, so we hope to go better this time!”

Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team

“It was nice to be home for a weekend for the first time in quite a while, but I certainly feel fresh and ready to come back strong and finish out this next little stretch of races before the summer break. The next three rounds are all at tracks that I like a lot, and Assen in particular is a great circuit with a great history. I really enjoy it, and I feel focused and ready. Hopefully we can use the information from the test in Barcelona to have a good race.”

Vittoriano Guareschi – Team Manager

“Assen is a very technical track where it’s important to be able to find a setup that makes the bike manageable but that still has stability for the fast final part, which is the only section remaining from the old track. We’ll have to work a lot on the setup to avoid the problems that we had last year, so it’ll be important to have a good balance and manage good tyre life. Both of our riders have had some good results in the past at Assen: Nicky likes the track a lot, and although Andrea isn’t quite so fond of it, there are reasons to think we should have a good race.”

Ducati Team Press Release

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Ducati Team in the Spotlights at Start of 2013 Season

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Following a long winter of testing and preparing for the 2013 MotoGP championship, the Ducati Team finally heads to the Middle East this week for the first Grand Prix of the year, at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit.

The squad has a much different look than it did just over four months ago at the 2012 season finale in Valencia, Spain, with changes in management and a new rider in Andrea Dovizioso. The Italian will be campaigning his first race aboard the Desmosedici, whereas teammate Nicky Hayden enters his fifth season with the Italian factory.

The team approaches the Qatar Grand Prix with the awareness that 2013 will likely be something of a building year, and the Losail Circuit, where the current lap record was set in 2008 by then-Ducati rider Casey Stoner, offers a first opportunity to see how competitive Dovizioso’s and Hayden’s bikes can be.

As has been the case since that same year, the season opener will take place at night, with illumination provided by an impressive array of outdoor lighting. Also unique is the format, with the event taking place over four days rather than the typical three, and all three classes given an extra free-practice session—the first of which will take place on Thursday night. In addition, Saturday evening will see the debut of a new qualifying system for the MotoGP class, as riders will endeavour to advance through a series of elimination sessions.

Andrea Dovizioso – Ducati Team

“Losail is a good track for me, as I’ve always had good races there, and I think that the Ducati’s strengths can work in Qatar. We head to this race determined to do well. We know that our pace isn’t so far from the others’ on new tyres, so we should certainly be able to fight for a good grid position, but we have a significant gap to make up in race configuration. Unfortunately we weren’t able to do a race simulation in the tests, so tyre wear is a question mark for me.”

Nicky Hayden – Ducati Team

“I’m very much looking forward to starting another season. Of course I wish we were going into it with more speed and consistency, but I feel like we’ve made progress at every pre-season test. The team has used the dry track time we’ve had very well, and we were able to get more out of the recent Jerez test than I thought we would, considering I’d just had wrist surgery. The Qatar track is smooth, which should suit our bike well, and racing under the lights at the first round is always very unique.”

Vittoriano Guareschi – Team Manager

“Unfortunately, we weren’t able to complete our work program at Jerez, due to the bad weather. Now we head to Qatar, where we’ll have to try some things in order to complete the setup work. It will be a strange race in unique conditions, as is always the case in Qatar. We hope that the wind won’t bother us too much and that our team will do well. We’ve had very good results there in the past, so the track isn’t an enemy for us. We’ve made steps over the winter, and our bike has improved at every test, so we expect to make further advances in Qatar. Andrea has done well at this circuit; he had a nice race there in his MotoGP debut and finished fourth, and we’ll be happy if we’re able to repeat that. Nicky also likes the track and has done pretty well there, but we’ll have to try hard to limit tyre wear. We still have some question marks, but anyway, we’re optimistic.”

Ducati Team Press Release

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Seventh Place for Valentino Rossi at Brno

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Following a very promising warm-up session on a wet track, Valentino Rossi’s race in the Czech Republic proved to be more difficult than anticipated. An oil leak, which didn’t hurt engine performance, nonetheless certainly affected riding conditions for the Italian. When he also suffered a loss of tyre grip, he was forced to slow and eventually finished seventh.

The Ducati Team will now travel to the Misano circuit, where Valentino will participate in a two-day test on Tuesday and Wednesday. His teammate Nicky Hayden will miss the test while he recuperates in the United States, but he is expected to return for the Grand Prix of San Marino.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 7th

“I started well and the early laps weren’t bad, although the bike started to lose oil right from the beginning. It went on the footrests and the brake- and shift levers, which bothered me, as my feet were slipping everywhere. I probably could have done a bit better without that inconvenience, and maybe I would have finished close to Dovizioso. Anyway, I also had to slow down because the rear tyre began sliding too much after some laps, which has been our problem. Now we’ll see in the test at Misano in two days if we can manage to find something to help us in the last races.”

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager

“The weekend started well. We improved steadily in every session, but the race didn’t play out positively for us. After the early laps, the bike suffered a loss of grip with the rear tyre, and Valentino lost contact with the leaders. As for the oil leak, we analysed the engine data and we have confirmed that there’s nothing unusual and that engine performance wasn’t affected. It certainly made riding more difficult because it made the footrests very slippery. We have a two-day test with Valentino at Misano on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we’ll work primarily on the chassis.”

Ducati Factory Team Press Release

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Ducati Team Focuses on Indianapolis GP

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After a brief, two-week summer break, the Ducati Team is on its way back to the United States for the second of two American MotoGP rounds. The team’s goal is to continue working on the bike in order to enable a positive final part of the season for Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden.

The American is particularly fond of the Indianapolis circuit, not only because it’s close to his home state of Kentucky, but also because it was the site of his first podium with Ducati, in 2009. Valentino Rossi has also been on the podium at this historic track, taking the victory when it first hosted the championship, in 2008.

As is always the case at the American events, Ducati Island will serve as the meeting point for the fans that come to support the Ducati Team, and to share the race weekend and enjoy the many exciting activities organized by the Italian manufacturer’s American subsidiary.

Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team

“This break served as an opportunity to make important decisions for the future, but now I want to return to thinking about the races because we want to improve and during the weekend it’s important to focus completely on what we have to do on the track. Indianapolis isn’t one of my favourite circuits, although I do have a win there.  It’s a particular track because it’s one of those that goes in the opposite direction, so the lines are a bit strange in many of the corners. It’s a tricky track, but we’ll try to do our best and have fun.”

Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team

“Laguna was fun, but Indy is really my home GP, just across the state line from Kentucky. Hopefully we can do a good result. We struggled more at Laguna than I expected, but Indy is much faster, with more opportunities to open the throttle. It should be nice to ride that track on the 1000s, and it will be fun for the American fans to really get to see them in action. Last season, tyre wear was critical there, but hopefully the pavement will come in a bit better this year. I hope to be competitive starting on Friday, and I’ll definitely be disappointed if we don’t get the best result of the season so far.”

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager

“The past month has been very intense for everyone, but now things are clearer. We can therefore concentrate on our work on the track as we continue to improve our bike so that Vale and Nicky can finish the season on an upward trend. Indianapolis is a challenging track laid out inside the famous oval for the 500, and it therefore features different types of asphalt, making for conditions that stress the tyres. It will be important to find a setup that makes it possible to take advantage of the hard tyres.”

Ducati Factory Racing Press Release

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Iannone and Redding will test Ducati at Mugello

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Vittoriano Guareschi, Ducati Team manager said that Andrea Iannone and Scott Redding will be testing the Desmosedici at Mugello this week.

After Nicky Hayden having recently signed a one-year extension, and Valentino Rossi not yet having decided his future next year, Ducati confirmed that this provided an ideal opportunity for the intermediate-class youngsters to prove their skills the Ducati machine.

source: MotoGP Official

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Assen to Kick Off Three Races in Three Weeks for Ducati Team

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From the giant party that is World Ducati Week at Misano, to the Temple of Speed: Valentino Rossi, Nicky Hayden and the Ducati Team are preparing for a three-week, three-race tour de force, beginning on Saturday at Northern Holland’s TT Circuit Assen.

The historic track that is home for the famous Dutch TT has been modified in recent years, though it’s still a fascinating circuit, and the event is capable of attracting huge numbers of motorcyclists and passionate fans of two-wheeled racing.

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden count the track amongst their favourites, and it has played host to wins for both riders: one for the American and seven for the Italian.

Valentino Rossi,

“Assen is a great track. I like it a lot, and it brings to mind a bunch of nice memories. We’ll try to start off with a good feeling with the track in order to improve our results a bit. For the moment, we can only work on the setup to prepare the bike as we try to return to the level that we had attained prior to Silverstone, which was a very difficult race. We were a bit better at Barcelona and during the dry sessions at Le Mans, so we must at least regain that pace. If it should also happen to rain, we know that we can be more competitive.”

Nicky Hayden, 

“Assen has changed a bit over the years, but it’s a track that I like. There are some nice, fast sections, like the last bit, coming back to the stadium. A couple of those corners with the banking are pretty fun. Assen is one of those places where you never know what the weather’s going to be like, so you just have to be prepared for anything on Saturday. If you look at the result of my last race, I can’t say that it was really positive, but we learned a couple of things. One of those is that we need to try to come up with something to be easier on the tyre, so we don’t destroy it as quickly. We’ll work on that in the Netherlands and try to get a good result.”

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager

“The Dutch TT kicks off a very intense period for the team and the riders, because three races in three weeks, the final of which is at Mugello, means we’ll be very busy. Assen is a track that both Valentino and Nicky like, and where both have won and ride well. We must stay focused and work well in order to find a setup that enables them to have a good performance over race distance. We have gotten nearer to that goal at some tracks, whereas others have proven to be more challenging for us, so we have to be more consistent with our efforts, while working on the other aspects of the development.”

Ducati Factory Team Press Release

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Ducati Team Preview Le Mans

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Having encountered at least one day of rain during every winter test and in every race so far except for Qatar, the two Ducati Team riders hope for a weekend with stable weather conditions at Le Mans as they continue working on the setup of the GP12.

Friday will find Valentino Rossi back on the track where he finished on the podium last year, and with the Portuguese post-race test having been cancelled due to bad weather, he’ll start with the settings he used at Estoril race, with the goal of improving upon his seventh-place finish there.

Nicky Hayden also hopes to do better than in Portugal, and although he doesn’t count the French circuit among his favourites, he thinks some of its characteristics could be a good match for his Ducati.

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager

“Le Mans is a bit strange, a classic stop-and-go track that’s very different from Estoril. This will give us an opportunity to check the work that we’re doing on the GP12’s setup: Valentino used it all weekend at the last GP, so we’ll continue like that in an effort to also make progress at Le Mans, where he had a really nice race last year. Though this isn’t one of Nicky’s preferred circuits, he’ll also use the experience he has gathered while using this setup on the GP12 since the start of the championship.”

Ducati Team Press Release

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Positive Signs for Rossi, Misfortune for Hayden

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The Portuguese Grand Prix saw the Ducati Team improving with Valentino Rossi and unfortunate with Nicky Hayden. After two days of working on his GP12’s settings, the Italian lapped at a pace that was both relatively fast and very consistent, eventually finishing in seventh place, which is his best result of the season so far.

Nicky Hayden, on the other hand, had to just try make it to the finish due to an electrical problem with his bike’s ECU, which was subject to interference from a radio signal near the track. As a result, all of the electronic calibrations were out of phase around the circuit, making riding extremely challenging. The American nonetheless rode with great determination to an eleventh-place finish.

Tomorrow the Ducati Team will remain in Portugal for a one-day test, with hopes that the rain forecasts turn out to be wrong so that development can continue on the GP12.

Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager)

“We managed to work well this weekend, taking full advantage of our dry track time to improve the setup and confirm that we now have a good base setting. Today Vale rode the whole race at close to the same pace as his qualifying time, he made some nice passes, and he was able to push a bit closer to the limit. I think this is a good starting point. We’re really sorry for Nicky because during the race, a radio signal interfered with our ECU’s transponder, forcing him to ride with the electronic calibration out of phase. Riding in those conditions is truly difficult, and he did a great job to finish the race.”

Ducati Team Press Release

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Ducati Estoril GP Preview

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The Ducati Team has transferred to Portugal for the third round of the MotoGP World Championship, which will take place on Sunday at Circuito Estoril, a track that, despite being notable for having the slowest average speed on the Grand Prix calendar, also includes some very fast sections like Turn 5, which is taken at approximately 200 Km/h (125 mph).

In twelve premier-class races at the circuit, Valentino Rossi has won five times and scored some additional podium finishes, while Nicky Hayden’s best finish there was a fourth place in 2007. The team will remain at the track on Monday for a post-race test.

Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager

“I wouldn’t be surprised if we find conditions in Portugal to be similar to those we left behind at Jerez, but although we went well in the rain there, we hope for a weekend with nice weather this time, which would allow us to take full advantage of all the available track time. The Estoril GP will be important for confirming that we’re on the right path in terms of the GP12’s setup, with both Vale and Nicky. Then on Monday we’ll have a day of post-race testing during which we can make some more checks as we continue our bike’s development.”

Ducati Team Press Release

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Hayden, Rossi, Eight and Ninth in Spanish GP

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The weekend’s last rain shower fell less than an hour before the Spanish Grand Prix, leaving time for the water to evaporate enough to have the race declared dry, so the MotoGP riders started on slick tyres. Nicky Hayden, who started from the first row, was involved in a back-and-forth battle for third place with Crutchlow and Pedrosa. The American then steadhly lost ground as grip decreased, eventually finishing eighth. Valentino Rossi, who started from the fifth row, steadily improved his pace as he climbed to eighth place.

Both riders will continue working on the setup of the GP12, starting this Friday when they again take to the track for free practice at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril, and also during the post-race test on Monday.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 8th

“It was fun for a couple of laps. We know our bike is great at generating heat in the tyres, and for the first few laps, I was able do what I wanted. Then about the time it looked like the other guys’ tyres came up to temperature, mine had already started losing grip, especially in the front. I was pushing wide in places and guys started coming past me. We knew it would be tough in the dry. My setup was okay, but to really try to go with those guys wasn’t possible. I was able to close back down on Bradl at the end and have a bit of a race the last couple of laps, but he beat me. Eighth place is certainly not what our goal is. The bike’s got a lot of potential, but at the moment, the gap to the rest is still too far. Hopefully we can get a dry weekend in Estoril and try to be closer to the front on Sunday.”

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 9th

“The positive thing from today’s race is that I think it might help us to do a bit better in the coming events, starting next week in Portugal. Today we used a setup that’s new for us, and it gave some positive signs. First we tried some solutions to give me a feeling similar to what I’ve had in the past, but it doesn’t work. Today’s setting was very similar to what Nicky has used for a while, though not exactly the same. I must get used to riding the bike a bit differently than I’m used to, and today that caused me to lose some ground in the early laps because I was basically starting blind. I wasn’t going bad once I found my rhythm, in the sense that I was matching the times of those who were fighting for sixth place, and I was able to push until the end, doing a 1:41.0 on the penultimate lap. This helps me to be a little more optimistic as I look ahead to the next races because if I’m able to ride a bit better, it could be a place for us to start from. In fact, we’ll use this setting when we start on Friday. Naturally, we’ll have to keep working, be more effective in qualifying so that we can start further forward, and improve acceleration and a number of other things, which we’ve already discussed at Ducati as we try, together, to improve the GP12.”

Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager)

“Today we wanted to see both Nicky and Vale finish the race closer to the front, but overall, there are several positive things to take from this weekend as we continud our work and our development path for the GP12. We received confirmation that we’re very fast in the wet, and in the dry, we had a good qualifying session with Nicky, who made the first row. Nicky was very competitive in the early laps of the race, and now we must also improve over race distance with him. Vale found qualifying difficult, but in the race, using a setting that he’d never tried, he felt okay and was steadily gaining confidence and going faster. These are signs that show us the direction to follow starting with the next round in a few days in Portugal.”

Ducati Press Release

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Ducati Team Ready for Spanish Grand Prix

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The Ducati Team travels to Spain this week for one of the most popular events on the world championship calendar, the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez de la Frontera.

Last year’s rain-affected race saw Nicky Hayden climb the third step of the podium, while Valentino Rossi, following a fall at the beginning of the eighth lap, mounted a charge through the pack to finish in fifth place. The Italian is the most successful rider ever at the Andalusian circuit, with no fewer than eight career wins, including six in the premier class.

VITTORIANO GUARESCHI, Team Manager

“We’re returning to Jerez a month after the winter test there, so we should find very similar conditions. The first race, in Qatar, was very difficult for Valentino, as we didn’t find a good setup that would let him feel comfortable on the bike. In Spain, by taking advantage of the work we did there in March, we’ll focus on helping him once again find a good feeling. Nicky is coming off of two days of testing at Mugello, where he had hoped to make up some of the time lost during winter testing, but bad weather prevented him from doing much. Still, he was able to get to know the bike better at the first round, and he’s confident in being able to find a good setup for this track as well.”

Ducati Press Release

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Ducati boss: Valentino Rossi highly motivated for 2012

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Valentino Rossi remains motivated and determined to transform Ducati’s fortunes in MotoGP, despite conceding he’s little chance to start the new 1000cc era in Qatar on Sunday night with a rostrum.

Ducati boss Vittoriano Guareschi says Rossi’s motivation remains high, despite a tough pre-season testing campaign for the nine-times world champion.

A radical new GP12 with twin spar aluminium frame aimed at curing a persistent understeer issue has not yet delivered the vast improvement the 33-year-old had hoped.

And he finished the last pre-season test in Jerez in sixth position, but he was still almost a second adrift of the fastest pace set by reigning world champion Casey Stoner.

But Guareschi said Rossi’s motivation remains strong. “He is not young like when arrived in Yamaha in 2004 but the motivation is very high and I think Valentino with good support can fight for victories. It is important to have a good start and stay close to the top,“ said Guareschi.

Despite a disastrous 2011 that saw Rossi score just one podium finish all year and lose his record of winning at least one race each year in his Grand Prix career, the Italian never publicly blasted Ducati.

Previously at Honda and Yamaha, Rossi wasn’t afraid to voice concerns about the performance of his machinery.

But in public at least so far, he has refused to condemn Ducati for a lack of results.

Guareschi added: “Valentino understood immediately that we worked to improve the bike and not stay in the same situation. We understand what he wanted and we started immediately to change the bike.

"It was not possible to immediately change the bike and we needed time to develop. But we knew we had to make a completely different bike. I think because of this Valentino stayed very calm.”

Rossi’s former factory Yamaha boss Davide Brivio agrees and he told MCN: “I think because he can see just how hard they are working it is very difficult to criticise or complain.

"The engineers really want to make this bike a success. They built three bikes last year and it is very hard to say bad things.”

Brivio also has no doubts about Rossi’s motivation heading to the first race in Doha on Sunday night. But he said it was imperative that the GP12 improves in the early part of the season to keep Rossi's motivation up.

Brivio added: “I still see Valentino strongly motivated but honestly I don’t know how long he can keep his motivation without seeing some results. He needs to see some encouragement to keep his motivation.

"I’m not sure how long it can last at this level if the results don’t come. He really wants to get back to the top and to taste again the enjoyment of being at the front.”

source: MCN

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