Mugello test day concludes three busy weeks for Ducati Team

The post-race MotoGP test that concluded three intense weeks of racing and testing was blessed with a beautiful, sunny day that was warm but breezy.

Nicky Hayden, Ducati Marlboro Team

Photo by: Ducati Corse

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden worked together with their respective teams and the Ducati engineers on a number of updates to the chassis, in an effort to balance the weight distribution; to the engine, to improve rideability; and to the electronics.

Valentino Rossi suffered a fall at the Correntaio that was due to a small problem with the ECU. Although he suffered no physical harm, the decision was made to finish his test early, before 4:00 p.m.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 4th, 1:47.746 (49 laps)
“We didn’t really have anything major to try today, but it was important in the sense that it’s the last time we’ll test before my two home races. We tried some things with the settings, and Ohlins had a couple of ideas that we tested. We lost a pretty significant amount of time after Valentino had his problem because the guys wanted to check everything on my bike to make sure it was okay. At the end of the day I put in a soft tyre to see how fast I could go, but then I had a problem with the fuel pump. We ran out of time, but still, my best lap was about the same as my qualifying time, which is okay. At this level, as we get closer to the front, it gets harder to make big improvements, but we leave here encouraged.”

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 10th, 1:48.565, (19 laps) “They had some things to try today, but it was mainly with an eye toward the future, as the substantial changes they’re working on at Ducati for the engine’s power delivery weren’t ready yet. So this was an intermediate step, an interim engine management system through a new ECU. We started testing it this morning, and the first feelings were good, as I immediately did a good time with a used tyre. However, when I started again after the break, the bike stalled at the Correntaio and I fell. Fortunately, I was leaned over quite far at that point so I just tipped over, and nothing bad happened. In the interest of safety, we decided to stop because the engineers have to analyze the data to understand what happened. We also had some different parts for the chassis, but we weren’t able to work with them much since we finished early. In the end, it wasn’t a particularly productive day, although the first impression with this change was pretty good.”

Filippo Preziosi, Technical Director
“This morning, with Vale, we started to try some changes to the chassis, work aimed at concentrating the mass and balancing the weight. Unfortunately, in the afternoon we had a problem with a hardware component, which we’ll have to check now. Given that safety is the most important thing, we stopped his test. Therefore, we only have his first impression, but based on that, we’ll continue with our schedule in order to bring some additional updates to the Misano test. With Nicky we didn’t have the same problem, and we were able continue the work. In the next few days, our test team will go forward with the work started by the factory riders.”