Valentino Rossi joined other great motorsports champions from the past and present in an inauguration ceremony for a new, ultramodern paddock structure at England’s Silverstone Circuit. The Silverstone Wing, as the British venue’s enormous new facility is called, comprises spacious garages, a media center, offices, and an auditorium, and it will host the seventh round of the MotoGP world championship on June 12. Rossi, who missed the track’s 2010 round due to injury, used the occasion to turn some introductory laps with a World Superbike 1198 and, while that bike was in the garage for a check of its electronics, with a standard 1198 street bike, complete with license plate and mirrors. The Italian greatly enjoyed his track time—about thirty laps in all—as a way to get to know the circuit. “I really had fun,” said Valentino Rossi before leaving for Italy. “After a few laps with the 1198 Superbike, we had a problem with the electronics and decided to use the 1198 street bike that Ducati’s UK affiliate rushed to us. I really liked riding that bike here. The track is nice—difficult and very technical. It makes you work hard because there are very fast sections where having the right trajectory is important, and others that are very narrow where you have to have good grip under acceleration. The first turn is completely blind, and you must hold a very precise line, and in general the entire first section is really great, definitely the part I like most. In short, I enjoyed it, especially because there were many drivers and riders who have great histories in motorsports, like John Surtees, who told me that he raced here in the ’50s. I wasn’t following racing then,” joked the Italian, “but he was great.”
source: ducati.com
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valentino rossi at silverstone with ducati 1198
nice race for rossi at estoril
The third round of the world championship, at the Estoril circuit, saw Valentino Rossi put in a nice race on a dry track, as there was no rain after this morning’s wet warm-up. The Italian started well from the third row and made up more positions on the first lap, bringing him to fourth place. From there, he maintained a good rhythm for the entire race, holding off Andrea Dovizioso until the very end, when Dovizioso slipped by in the race to the line and finished in front by a hair—just twenty-five thousandths of a second. Starting from the fifth row, Nicky Hayden also had a very strong launch, and the American was seventh after the first lap. A small shifting problem affected him a little, but it was mainly the contact with Spies that caused him to lose a gap to Aoyama and Crutchlow. He was ninth at the finish. Tomorrow the Ducati MotoGP Team will stay for a post-race test with the other MotoGP teams, and naturally, good weather is hoped for so that the team can continue its development of the GP11. Valentino Rossi (Ducati MotoGP Team) 5th
“Apart from Dovizioso, today went well! I’m joking, but Andrea obviously rode a race that was strategically perfect. I think he played with me a little, knowing that on the straight, he could probably beat me to the line. He couldn’t pass me because I was strong on the brakes, so he had me do all the work for 28 laps before making his attempt, and he got me by twenty-five thousandths. Apart from that, the team and I are very happy, because it was a nice race and this, for the time being, is the best we can do. I started well, I made up several positions, and then I was very consistent, with decent times. I practically did the same lap from qualifying for 28 laps, so it’s a good result. My only disappointment is that fourth would have been my best finish with the Ducati. Anyway, another positive is that I’m physically well, as I’m missing just fifteen percent of my strength, but I think I’ll be at 100 percent between Le Mans and Catalunya. As for the bike, there’s certainly still work to do, but we’re working together with the Ducati technicians. They’re pleased with the data they have, and I’m seeing that what I get from the racing department works. It will take some time, but we’re going forward. Tomorrow we’ll have some new things to try, so let’s hope that it’s dry, and we’ll see how it goes. We don’t expect to solve everything in seven hours, just to continue down the path we’ve started on together.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati MotoGP Team) 9th
“Starting from thirteenth, it was always going to be difficult for us, but the bike was good off the line and I got a good start. I made some early mistakes, but I was also recovering a few positions. I got into seventh, but I was having difficulty back-shifting. Already on the sighting lap, I knew it was an issue. On the grid, we talked about getting on the other bike, but we decided together that it was better to stick with our bike and not start from pit road. It caused some difficulty, especially on corner entry, and some guys came past. Then Spies hit me pretty good and stood me up going into Turn 3, so I lost the bridge to Aoyama and Crutchlow. I’m really happy we have a test tomorrow. We’ve got some stuff to try, and hopefully we’ll get some good weather, because we lost some dry time this weekend with the rain. The bike was great in the wet—third Friday and fourth this morning—but we need to make it better in the dry.” Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager)
“Valentino had a good start and a nice race: we were very consistent with the times, and the gap to the front was reduced, which indicates that the work we’re doing on the GP11 is going in the right direction. Nicky also got away well when the lights went off and, despite a shifting issue, he stayed strong and finished in the top ten. Tomorrow will be a test day, and we’ll try some updates to different areas of the bike, so we hope that the weather won’t play any dirty tricks on us so that we can take advantage of all the track time.” More news and high-resolution photography at: www.ducaticorsepress.com
source www.ducati.com
