The Australian Grand Prix, which today saw Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo crowned world champions in the Moto2 and MotoGP classes, respectively, proved to be particularly challenging for the Ducati Team and its two riders, who brought home seventh and eighth place points. Despite working hard along with their respective teams, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden weren’t able to maintain a fast enough race pace to fight with the group of riders whose lap times they had approached over the previous two days. The Australian race completes the long overseas trip and leaves only the Spanish round in Valencia, which will close out the 2012 season in two weeks. Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 7th “As far as the result is concerned, I think seventh place is probably the best that was possible, whereas the gap could have been better. Nicky was with me the whole race. I was ahead and I pushed, but I was never able to shake him. The bike I crashed with in the warm-up had some small changes that we wanted to try, but honestly, I don’t think I could have done much more. I’m not able to enter the corners fast because whenever I try, I go too wide. I have to brake earlier, try to keep a bit of margin, and then accelerate as soon as possible, but by opening the gas very early, with the bike leaned over, the tyre heats up a lot on the edges. Today it immediately started sliding too much. Complements to Marquez and Lorenzo for their titles, which both of them certainly deserve.” Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 8th “It was a really hard weekend. Normally I love Phillip Island, but we did 32.3s in FP1 and haven’t been able to improve grip and turning much since, despite making a lot of changes. I felt a little better in the race and was able to fight with Valentino a little bit. He was faster in the beginning, but once the tyres went away, I could manage, although front-tyre wear hurt me toward the end. I thought I might be able to have a go at him in the last couple of laps, but then I ran wide in turn 11 and he got a break on me. He was going to be tough to beat anyway. It’s frustrating, because I remember battling with Valentino for the win here, and we’ve been on the podium together a few times at this track. Thanks to the team because we really tried everything this weekend.” Vittoriano Guareschi, Team Manager “It was a very challenging weekend for the team and the riders, even if everyone tried their best to find a setup that would work on this track. Today’s crash in the warm-up certainly didn’t help Valentino, but anyway, I don’t think things would have gone much differently. Nicky had a difficult time all weekend. Back home, we’ll have to analyse all the data we’ve gathered and do better at Valencia in the last race.” Source:Difficult race for Ducati Team at Phillip Island | News | Motorsport.com
Story of pretty much the entire season really. You have to say that despite the massive effort that I imagine the entire team has put in this season, the results have really been diddly squat. Is the Ducati GP bike something that can be improved in an evolutionary manner, or is it time to chuck the whole thing in the bin and start again from scratch?
Again? this year they have had new frames, swing arms, engines........they got Bridgestone to change the tyre construction.
i think its fair to say that the Ducati moto gp bike is one of the worst machines ever made. Sure, they came out of the gate way in front of the competition when the old, new rules came out, but everyone has caught up, then superceded them . If the likes of Valentino Rossi cant stay on board then its simply not good enough. if they continue to 'evolve' the bike then we can probably say goodbye to Dovies career and Hayden will cement his position as an also ran. With the notabel exception of Stoner, the Desmo has ruined the careers of everyone whose swung a leg over the thing. Time to bin the bloody thing and start over (which theyve probably decided a year ago). The entire Ducati/Rossi debacle has left egg all over Ducatis face, and if Rossi ends up on the podium in the early part of next season, or dare i say it, take a race win, then this will be a final humiliation. With Rossi onboard th Yam, maybe we'll return to some of the excitement so sadly missing in recent years in motogp. With Rossi and Simoncelli not mixing things up, the racing has gotten so stale. As a Ducati nut, i would love them to take the crown, but first theyve got to distance themselves from this white elephant. With a company with such a fine pedigree, Ducati has certainly slipped in kudos stakes for me...in fact, theyre almost a joke...at least theyve taken one world championship..apart from that, theyve done little more than Petronas or the other satellite teams that come and go. Time for Ducati to either pull the plug entirely before they become a laughing stock, or build a properly competitve machine....either way, theyve got a monumental task in front of them. For me, theyve smeared the legacy of the finest rider to ever grace the premier class...including Ago.
And to add to Rimpy's spot on analysis ,Ducati will very soon find themselvels in the same position in WSB, the rules now favour the 4's, albiet only slightly but enough to finally put Ducati's dominance to bed. The Panigale is the pinnacle of twin development and if it struggles ,which i'm convinced it will, then I'm afraid Ducati need to re-evaluate their racing ethos.
The panigale has some issues at the moment, the bike needs loads more development. It has handling problems: straight line speed wobble and cornering. Although the engine is nice and strong. It really amazes me why Ducati didnt go down the V4 path, like Aprilia have ? Ducati have one in GP. Its going to be 1198 mark 2 next year, i think.
As on another thread regarding the Desmo and it's 'issues'. everything has been changed except the holy grail to Ducati which is the Desmodromic engine, i still think that the size/weight or shape of the motor is preventing it being positioned in the optimum place on the bike to allow the riders to get the response they need from any of the frames that have been tried.
Maybe Stoner will spill the beans on how he managed to ride the bugger now he's retiring. I still think it was a matter of man over machinery, meaning he was better than the bike. 6 wins on the bounce round Philip Island sort of proves the point.
but the bike that stoner rode bore no relation to the current machines except for the ducati badge. ps: dare i say it, but has the two cylinder engine reached its zenith?? is it perhaps time for Ducati to pursue 4 cylinder development?? (exclusively) A horrid prospect i know...but ive a sinking feeling that this may be the future. Ducati may well be developing this avenue whilst trying to retain the character of a twin. We'll know for sure when all the marketing bollocks starts about a new era in the history of the greatest motorcycle manufacturer in the world blah blah.. Porsche reached that point with the air cooled flat six..the last 'real' 911's.
That's true but don't forget they're still having the same problems that Rossi reported when he stepped onto Stoner's bike initially - Stoner rode the GP11 and was quicker on it than the GP10. The problem is the engineering direction...