Complicated opening day at Sachsenring for Ducati Team

As was the case for many of the MotoGP riders on the event-filled first day of the German Grand Prix, Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso both suffered falls on their way to seventh and ninth places, respectively, in the combined times of the first two free-practice sessions.

Nicky Hayden, Ducati Team

Photo by: Ducati Corse

The Italian’s fall came early during FP1 in the fast turn 11, damaging the one example of the updated frame that he had at his disposal and thus forcing him to revert to the standard version.

Hayden’s FP2 fall, which occurred in the slower turn 3, was much less costly, and the American is generally pleased with his pace. Both riders are optimistic that with adjustments to their Desmosedici GP13 race bikes, they’ll be able to improve upon their lap times tomorrow.

Nicky Hayden - Ducati Team, 7th (1:22.572): “I’ve had a pretty good pace today, especially compared to Assen. For my fast lap, a half-second from the front is a lot on this short track, but my ideal time is a couple of tenths better.

When it’s difficult to put heat in the front tyre, turn 11 is tough for everybody, especially us. We’ve made a couple of little improvements during the day, but we need to sort out a few more things with the bike.

In particular, I’ve had a couple of big moments when the rear to let go too aggressively. I also had a small crash in the slow turn 3, where the front folded with no warning. Anyway, our pace is certainly better than it has been, and we’ll see what we can come up with for tomorrow.”

Andrea Dovizioso - Ducati Team, 9th (1:22.850): “We’d have liked to do some tests with the new frame, but unfortunately, it was bent in my crash—and there were many of those here today. That means we can’t use it, and instead we have to run the one we’ve used all season. It’s tough here, as this track is always strange.

You have to be really smooth, and the bike needs to be able to change direction easily, which is difficult for us. We’re a bit closer to the front, and I think we can improve a bit, although not a lot because we can’t take wide lines like the others and pick the bike up on the exits.

Still, if we respect our bike’s characteristics and take tight lines, maybe we can improve by a couple of tenths, and here, a couple of tenths makes a difference over thirty laps.”

Ducati Team