Valentino Rossi expected to be nearly fit for the Estoril round – MotoGP Update
There is one man in the Ducati house who knows how Valentino Rossi will perform at the Estoril race, to be held in Portugal on May 1, 2011. Australian motorcycle racing chief engineer, Jerry Burgess, during an interview at a Spanish TV has assured that Italian
rider will be ‘90 percent fit for Estoril’.
The lasting effect of Rossi’s injury has hindered him from winning a race and the former champion is still eyeing his season’s first glory, which is an optimistic anticipation for the moment.
Burgess feels that it will be the best time of the season for the Italian bike-rider combination, as Rossi is feeling an improvement in movingn his shoulder.
In all situations, Rossi is the main focus point of crew chief, Burgess, who is one of the most successful crew chiefs in the MotoGP world. He proves his determination, as he is viewing a larger picture to build the Desmosedici GP project and also realises
the importance of his role, to develop a rider’s winning machine.
Jerry Burgess said, "We must ensure that all riders can ride the Ducati, as we did with the Yamaha."
The Ducati crew chief is focusing on building a more compatible Ducati machine, in accordance to the M1 versatility. It will help the progressing rookies into the MotoGP, to get an easier machine to ride, rather than a custom adjusted machine for a specific
rider.
The current GP bike was under discussion, as Burgess revealed that the time for testing the new 2011 prototype was short. The evolving of the bike has not stopped from reaching a point, where the Desmosedici will become friendlier for riders.
The developing procedure still has an over-steer problem, which Rossi feels is the lack of sensation from the bike, during corners.
Rossi has previously highlighted the same problem he faced during the winter test sessions and also at the official pre-season tests held at Sepang. His vows continued at Qatar also, just before the opening round of the 2011 MotoGP season.
The Italian rider was feeling a lack of strength during the pre-test sessions and could not give his best performance after his shift to Ducati. As both the manufacturer and the rider are Italian, people are expecting that the duo would put forward a performance,
which would also celebrate Italy’s 150th anniversary of unification, a couple of months ago.
His team-mate, Nicky Hayden, was able to score the third podium position at the Gran Premio bwin de Espana, at the Jerez circuit, on April 3. It was the American’s first podium finish of the season, which gave the Ducati team some relief also. After the
Jerez round, both the factory riders were lucky to get their hands on the new 1000cc prototype, which is in development for the 2012 MotoGP season.
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