Nicky Hayden of Ducati Team believes Desmosedici GP11.1 has reached its potential – MotoGP news
Ducati Team rider Nicky Hayden feels that the Desmosedici GP11.1 has reached its development potential.
Hayden tested this model at Laguna Seca during the practice sessions but decided to continue with ride its predecessor GP11 on the raceday. However, he waited until Indianapolis GP where raced with the GP11.1 for the first time.
Hayden said, “Yes, it seems this bike is at the top of its potential already. They are certainly testing some stuff and we know we got to make a big change because we’re a long way off.”
The latest machine debuted during the 2011 Assen event. Valentino Rossi said by using the 2012 chassis with an 800cc power plant, might work in their favour. With the new GP11.1, they were hoping to improve a lot on their performance.
Apparently, the bike displayed a hidden margin for improvements. It appeared that the GP11.1 would drastically improve with a few modifications. They were hoping to eliminate the understeering issue with a switch of frame type.
Accordingly, Ducati called in FTR to develop a new aluminium frame which eventually proved worthless. During the Aragon GP, Hayden suffered a poor performance with a severe rear end slide. This cost Hayden to finish behind Alvaro Bautista at the seventh
position.
The Kentucky Kid added, “They’ve tested aluminium and I don’t think it is a matter of material. I think it is more stiffness and flex. You can make carbon softer or stiffer so I don’t think that's the situation. I tested a lot of aluminium swing-arms and
carbon fibre swing-arms and you can get either one to do what you want it to do.”
Hayden supported team boss Filippo Preziosi’s opinion that the material is not the main problem. A carbon fibre chassis can also be made stiffer or flexible accordingly, he said.
In order to resolve this issue, Rossi will be testing a twin spar Deltabox frame in Japanese style. It is expected that the conventional frame type used by Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha will be a saviour for Ducati.
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