day 3 : top 4 goes under 2:00 ... CC slowest Duc rider with .5 behind Ianonne.. still .... interveiw with TARDOZZI.... nice sounds coming out of the garage ! This morning Iannone scored a great time and he did it because he had the urge to just over a motorcycle that has enabled it to him . This 'm feeling the urge in all drivers , as in the technical . " So says David Tardozzi , arrived as responsible for logistics and coordination of the factory Ducati team . A role other than that covered Vittoriano Guareschi , necessary after the arrival of Dall'Igna making it surpassed the figure of classic team manager . David, what is your role ? "We have about thirty people moving in GP and I act as coordinator , optimizing logistics, from the point of view of costs. The financial aspect of a team is important, the less you spend the more you can invest in technical development . They are also a bit ' a man ' by dressing ' . I conceive races as one stand together , not just a job. This was a spirit that was in my twelve years I have worked in Ducati and I found it . " How did you get the call? "The situation has evolved between November and December , but I have always been linked to Ducati . There was a constant exchange of views and my arrival was the natural evolution of this process. " After many years of Superbike , MotoGP how you found ? " The Superbike has given me everything and I brought with Ducati at the end of a winning run . Logical at the time to think about that right now MotoGP is a championship at the highest level with extraordinary champions . It 's true that I had never worked with before, but I found that I already knew so many people to welcome me . " Ducati in recent years has not gone through good times , this is not ever made you doubt your choice? " I never took into consideration the technical problems even for a minute. I started off as the year zero , with great confidence in the people who are close to me . We do not hide our problems , but also the beauty of the challenge. I do this job with a passion , because I feel pleasure . " What is the atmosphere in the box ? " Of great confidence , all the guys are sure that the company has made some important strategic renovations and Dall'Igna is up to the task . But even in difficult times, I have always maintained that Ducati has inside knowledge needed . You just needed to address them , and I think you 're doing . " It will take time but still , there is the risk that the enthusiasm fools? "It will be vital to keep morale high , as I said, no illusions . But right now people are motivating each other , they realized that there is fresh air . " Is there a secret ? " In these tests, there are three teams on the track, the internal and the Pramac test , but I see only a five Ducati . Cohesion is maximum , we are moving forward together , the exchange is continuous . " These nine days of testing before the start of the season will be important. " Fundamental to us. We need information , Gigi especially having just arrived. But his touch is already apparent in this bike and all I wanted to change it works. He's using a great method of working . " How you can change the GP14 from here to the first race in Qatar ? " I will not go into the technical, but the test program does not leave much time . It certainly will not be upset . "
This may be of interest as it discusses where various engine elements are in relation to each other and their combined effect. Shafts. Meaning Crankshafts.
yep... tis not the a part. it's a 1000 parts . and even more so the way they come together to 1 final package..
Thanks, have read something similar before, it does however seem that if it was 'that simple' they would have done it by now. I know they rocked the engine back to get the crank closer to the front wheel; but I guess they are looking at more fundemental re-designs now. It's Ironic because Aprilia were in exactly this position when they were in GP, they had a bike that apparently fundementally had the swingarm pivot 'wrong' when compared to the crank position, they also never seemed to solve it (wish they would have stayed though, loved that triple, a proper animal!).
GIGI confirms to want to enter in the OPEN class as this allows much more bike development.. which i'm sure he'll need...
Ducati press release... Ducati Team take home some satisfaction from first Sepang test The third and final day of IRTA testing organized at the Sepang circuit saw Ducati Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Cal Crutchlow continue development work on their new Desmosedici GP14 machines in the same perfect track and weather conditions that blessed the Malaysian test session since Tuesday. The main results were that a lot of mileage was notched up on the new bike, useful data was gathered for future development, and some measure of satisfaction was also achieved by the two riders and the mechanics and technicians of the Italian squad. Once again Andrea Dovizioso made a major step forward, the Italian lowering his time set yesterday by a further eight-tenths of a second, and he then concluded his day early half-way through the afternoon after completing his work load. Dovizioso’s time of 2 minutes 00.370 seconds was the best ever recorded by the Italian at the Sepang circuit, on any bike. Cal Crutchlow on the other hand, continued to lap until the 6 pm closure, trying to put in as much mileage as possible on the new bike, with which he will tackle his first season with the Bologna-based manufacturer team. A major contribution in this early part of the season was made by the Ducati Test Team rider Michele Pirro, who finished day 3 with another 57 laps to his name and with a best time of 2m01.782s. All the protagonists of the MotoGP World Championship will meet up again at Sepang for the second session of IRTA tests in three weeks’ time, from February 26-28. Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #4) – 7th (2m00.370s) “I am really pleased with these three days of testing because we managed to do a good job and improve a lot. Now we can brake harder, corner entry is easier and quicker, we can accelerate a bit earlier and therefore use more power in the early acceleration phase. We also managed to set some quite fast lap times. In fact, I recorded a time that I had never before managed to do here in Malaysia on any bike, and this makes me happy. We also improved our race pace and so this test was really positive. I didn’t expect to be able to improve so much, but we must remain with our feet firmly on the ground because the gap is still far too high for the objectives we wish to achieve.” Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team #35) – 12th (2m01.057s) “I know the position doesn’t look too good but I have to say that I’m pleased. I’m a long way from Dovi but overall we’re quite consistent and faster than yesterday. We found some good things with the bike, I just did the lap time at the wrong time of the day, at quarter past twelve when it was 15° hotter than when everyone else did their time. I’m not too concerned about the overall time, we seem to have found some things with the bike that enable you to push it a bit more. The limit seems to be a lot more than on the GP13, which is good, and this bike seems to be improving all the time. Overall I’m happy, the lap times I was doing today are not far off last year’s on a different bike, it’s just that everyone’s going a lot faster.” Michele Pirro (Ducati Test Team #51) – 15th (2m01.782s) “This final day was really tough the tiredness really started to set in! I also did a long-run at 2 pm to see how my GP14 went with the fuel consumption. In any case I’m pleased with the work we did, we picked up a lot of useful information and let’s hope we can improve in the next tests. Here we improved on each day, even in our fastest lap, and so I’ll continue to carry out my role with commitment to give as much information as possible to the official team riders and to the Ducati engineers.” Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager) “I have to admit that I am quite satisfied with the way things went in these three days of testing at Sepang. The climate within the team certainly seemed positive to me, and that’s important. It was also vitally important to try and reverse the negative trend that clearly had been created in this team, for this reason it was important to motivate the riders, everyone involved in the development work and all those working on improving the bike. I would even say that, all things considered, both in the lap times and the comments from the riders, a step in the right direction has been taken. For sure there’s a lot of work still to be done, and we need to have clear ideas and keep a cool head.”
There was some confusion about the production Hondas times, their test rider was 0.3 between the production and factory bike, stoner was 1.2 between which is why Hayden is struggling, honda didn't correct the press knowing they would sell the bikes, yamaha panicked and all but gave the open yamahas a complete M1, it's backfired on honda
More fuel, more engines, continued development through the year. I wouldn't be surprised if the open class guys were upsetting the establishment later in the year. I don't actually know why any of the teams are running the factory class to be honest. Or am I missing something? I mean, what if every team went down the open class route? What are we losing?
Fuel economy effectively....oh and software / engine management ......neither of which remaining manufacturers (Honda & Yamaha) utilise on their road bikes to any extent. 4 litres of race fuel per race must cost them what? £10/litre at best so £40?
