Disappointed @ Sepang

The Sepang test was a disappointment for the Ducati Team. Valentino Rossi missed a day of testing due to illness, and the team was unable to put in competitive laps. Rossi, Hayden, and the Ducati team spent the Sepang test chasing the lap leaders, and finished nearly two seconds behind the top lap times.
Valentino Rossi discussed how he was nervous about the 2011 season after the Sepang test, but it looks like there has been a change of heart in the Ducati garage. Ducati Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi says that the Sepang test allowed Ducati to figure out "exactly what they want" to do to get ready for the 2011 season.


"It's been an interesting test for both riders," Guareschi said. "We tested new set-ups but it is still necessary to conduct more testing. We need more from Qatar to keep a definite direction."


"The new Ducati definitely doesn't have a big difference in comparison to the GP10. We have a few small new things and we now understand exactly what we want from the bike to have a good start to the season. We are happy."


The MotoGP riders will have one more testing session at Qatar before the start of the season. Guareschi says that Rossi is getting better every time he sits on the bike, and he is confident that with one more testing session, the Ducati team will be well prepared for the start of the 2011 season on March 20th.


"Valentino's bike is getting easier for him to ride, and he and Jerry (Burgess) are understanding the feel and the character of the bike better every time. But we definitely need more tests and kilometres," Guareschi said.

SIGNED ROSSI **NEW DUCATI* PRINTS!!!

Brand new Valentino Rossi  Ducati print for purchase from ebay.




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ROSSI interview after day 2 tests.......

Valentino Rossi finished the second day of testing at Sepang 13th on the timesheet, one place lower than Tuesday, but that didn’t tell anything like the full story.

The seven time MotoGP champion claims he is 'forgetting' about lap times due to the physical limitations of his healing shoulder, and instead concentrating on parts of the track where he can ride normally.

But that doesn’t mean Rossi is downbeat about the shoulder. In fact it’s the opposite.

“The shoulder recovered overnight and this morning I was back to the same level as yesterday morning,” said the Italian, speaking outside the Ducati pits. “So my shoulder doesn’t suffer too much from riding the MotoGP bike. This is a great and important sign, as it means my shoulder is strong enough to resist.

“But if you see my shoulder it is very, very small. I don’t have any muscle. So lap-by-lap I lose power and gain pain. But we can concentrate on power in the next few weeks and arrive in better condition for the next test.

“Unfortunately, we need to develop and improve the bike now. So we tried to concentrate on the parts of the track where I can ride normally and forgot the parts where I lose a lot because of the shoulder.

“We also tried to forget the lap time, because in two or three braking areas I lose one second.”

Physical assessment over, Rossi turned to technical matters.

“We made a good job today and improved the setting,” he began. “We concentrated a lot on the different tyres because when we change from soft to hard the bike has a different reaction compared to the [Yamaha] M1.

“We also tried some different cowling and made some different tests for the aerodynamics [including no wings, see pic]... I used the 2011 fork. We didn’t try the small [42mm] one. I don’t know if we will try it tomorrow.”

Rossi, who took his 46th and final Yamaha victory at Sepang last October, then revealed that he has two main problems to solve.

“The biggest problem for us is the front vibration, we have a bit too much chatter, but tomorrow we will have some card to play to fix the problem,” he said. “Also we have to work on the turning of the bike. This is the second main issue where we have to improve the Desmosedici.

“Otherwise I feel the bike is more mine. I have a better feeling and I can ride more easily. I try to understand the bike and all the systems. Including the traction control. Because it is quite different from the past.

“We have changed the bike a lot since the first test at Valencia. We worked under a different point of view, front, rear, rider position. All small work but at the end the result is a big difference.

“The plan for tomorrow is to fix the chattering and improve the lap time.”

Rossi rode for 42 laps on day two, compared with 30 on day one, and improved his lap time by 0.768sec.

2nd day of testing @ Sepang
1Pedrosa D.Repsol Honda Team2:00.770
2Spies B.Yamaha Factory Racing+0.738
3Dovizioso A.Repsol Honda Team+0.742
4Lorenzo J.Yamaha Factory Racing+0.793
5Stoner C.Repsol Honda Team+0.840
6Bautista A.Rizla Suzuki MotoGP+0.917
7Edwards C.Monster Yamaha Tech 3+0.961
8Simoncelli M.San Carlo Honda Gresini+1.066
9Aoyama H.San Carlo Honda Gresini+1.216
10Hayden N.Ducati Marlboro Team+1.609
11Akiyoshi K.HRC Test Team+1.849
12Puniet R.Pramac Racing Team+1.888

13Rossi V.Ducati Marlboro Team+1.923

14Barbera H.Aspar Team+2.009
15Crutchlow C.Monster Yamaha Tech 3+2.262
16Capirossi L.Pramac Racing Team+2.335
17Abraham K.Cardion AB Motoracing+2.696
18Elias T.LCR Honda MotoGP+3.256
19 T.Yamaha Test Team+3.372
20 T.Yamaha Test Team+4.087

Rossi speaking after Sepang tests...

Rossi said that he was nevertheless happy after the first day of testing: "Rarely have I been so happy about arriving twelth but after the tests at Misano we were rather pessimistic as I was in a lot of pain - stated Rossi - here it's been a lot better, above all this morning when we managed to do 20, 25 laps at a good pace. There is still a lot of work to do, but we have already achieved quite a lot as well: we have worked on the riding position and we are trying to understand, with regard to the numerous little details that we can alter on the bike, what are the best solutions. It's not a question of altering the Ducati's DNA, but of exploiting the bike's strong points and improving the others. Unfortunately I felt rather weak in the afternoon and I was struggling a bit, but I still managed to do around 15 laps. Let's say that I'm in quite a lot of pain at the moment and I don't feel very strong. It would be much better if it was the other way round!".

All 17 MotoGP race riders are present at the Sepang test, which marks the first time Valentino Rossi has ridden in Ducati red and Casey Stoner in full Repsol livery.

Stoner moved ahead of Lorenzo in the final 30 minutes.

Testing continues on Wednesday and concludes on Thursday evening...

1. Casey Stoner AUS Repsol Honda Team 2m 1.574s (52 laps)

2. Jorge Lorenzo ESP Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 1.977s (44 laps)

3. Dani Pedrosa ESP Repsol Honda Team 2m 2.024s (61 laps)

4. Marco Simoncelli ITA San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m 2.295s (52 laps)

5. Ben Spies USA Yamaha Factory Racing 2m 2.332s (29 laps)

6. Alvaro Bautista ESP Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 2m 2.422s (65 laps)

7. Hiroshi Aoyama JPN San Carlo Honda Gresini 2m 2.483s (65 laps)

8. Andrea Dovizioso ITA Repsol Honda Team 2m 2.507s (57 laps)

9. Colin Edwards USA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2m 2.514s (60 laps)

10. Randy de Puniet FRA Pramac Racing Team 2m 3.152s (63 laps)

11. Kosuke Akiyoshi JPN Honda Test Rider 2m 3.224s (49 laps)

12. Valentino Rossi ITA Ducati Team 2m 3.365s (30 laps)

13. Nicky Hayden USA Ducati Team 2m 3.508s (65 laps)

14. Loris Capirossi ITA Pramac Racing Team 2m 3.695s (63 laps)

15. Hector Barbera ESP Aspar Team 2m 3.767s (59 laps)

16. Cal Crutchlow GBR Monster Yamaha Tech 3 2m 4.009s (62 laps)

17. Toni Elias ESP LCR Honda MotoGP 2m 4.238s (64 laps)

18. Karel Abraham CZE Cardion AB Motoracing 2m 4.470s (52 laps)

19. Bike #T1 JPN Yamaha Test Rider 2m 4.717s (58 laps)

20. Bike #T2 JPN Yamaha test Rider 2m 5.235s (48 laps)

MOTO GP kicks of today in Sepang!! Come on ROSSI!!

The first official test for the year at the circuit in Sepang today sets into motion what is expected to be one of the most exciting seasons for MotoGP fans.

The 800cc engines will roar into action and taking top billing will be the track debuts of Valentino Rossi for Ducati and Casey Stoner for Honda.

Nine-time world champion Rossi joined Ducati after seven seasons with Yamaha and the test sessions until Thursday will mark the Italian’s first track appearance sporting the familiar red colours with partner Nicky Hayden.

Australian top rider Stoner will do the same after moving out of Ducati to join forces with Spaniard Dani Pedrosa and Italian Andrea Dovizioso. Stoner won the world title with Ducati in 2007.

Attention will also be on reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain on the new Yamaha machine carrying the No. 1 racing number.

It is the first time since Wayne Rainey defended his title in 1993 for the third consecutive time with Yamaha that a reigning champion in the premier class is astride the coveted No. 1 machine.

The Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer, Datuk Ahmad Razlan Razali, said that they looked forward to again host the world’s best riders for the first official tests of the year.

“The new season looks set to be the most exciting ever.

“There is Lorenzo with the new Yamaha liveries and it will be interesting to see prospective strong rivals Rossi and Stoner with their new teams,” he said.

“Also in the challenge this season is Ben Spies, who took over from Rossi at Yamaha Racing. There is also Moto2 champion Toni Elias.

“All of them have the potential and very capable of challenging the current world champion Lorenzo.”

In conjunction with the MotoGP pre-season test session, the SIC, who will host the penultimate round from Oct 21-23, will have a special early bird ticket promotion for the Malaysian GP.

“Early bird tickets start from RM40. For more details, fans can log on to our official website (www.sepangcircuit.com) or call our ticket hotline (03-87782200),” said Razlan.

“For the tests sessions, we will be opening the Main Grandstand to fans, who can take advantage of their trip to Sepang to buy discounted tickets and also items at our merchandise shop.”

While MotoGP riders would have two three-day sessions in Sepang, the other from Feb 22-24, riders in Moto2 and 125cc would be testing in Spain, the first of a three-test session in Valencia from Feb 10-12.

MotoGP riders will have their third and final pre-season test session on March 13 and14 at Losail in Qatar before entering an 18-round world championships on March 20 at the same venue.