Ducati Team rider Valentino Rossi tests Desmosedici GP12 at Mugello circuit – MotoGP news
Ducati Team rider Valentino Rossi tested the new Ducati Desmosedici GP12 prototype at the Italian circuit of Mugello on Thursday.
The Italian rider completed 60 laps with new 1000cc MotoGP prototype. MotoGP teams have already started testing their bikes for the 2012 season.
The new 2012 MotoGP regulations will call back the 1000cc big displacement-engines and will add new ‘Claiming Rules Teams’ to the premier class grid. The addition of CRTs will double the number of the premier class contenders next season. This season has
already seen teams testing their new 1000cc machines on different occasions.
The final day of the test was held under the supervision of Technical Director, Filippo Preziosi. The initial two days of test were conducted by the Team Manager Vittoriano Guareschi and test rider Franco Battaini. The three days of testing were completed
on a good note.
Ducati factory rider Valentino Rossi said, “We took full advantage of the time we had, because the track and weather conditions were perfect. I liked the new asphalt a lot. The surface is smooth, those holes that I knew so well are now gone, and the grip
is fantastic.”
Rossi was pleased to test ride the next season prototype and enjoyed the new pavement of the circuit. The new asphalt tarmac provided good grip for him. Some holes which Rossi remembers have vanished from the track. The Italian rider has returned to the
track for the first time since his last season’s injury.
It was the second test for Valentino Rossi on the GP12. He tested the new changes made in the setup of the bike after the feedback of Ducati team rider Nicky Hayden.
Ducati Team Technical Director, Filippo Preziosi said, “I must say it’s a strange sensation, but also a really nice one, to be here at Mugello with Valentino, on a track where we’ve been rivals so many times in the past. We worked on the electronics and
various other updates to next season’s bike.”
The previous test was held at Jerez with both Ducati Team riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. In the opinion of Preziosi, their feedback on the GP12 was very useful in the last test and the data collected at Mugello will also help to develop the new
prototype in the right direction.
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