Max Biaggi’s presence in the two–day Ducati test at Mugello completely monopolized the attention of the press that seemed to completely forget that it was an important development test for the factory riders who had time to concentrate on ‘laboratory’ machine that Michele Pirro has rode in two wildcard entries and Jerez and Mugello.
Dovizioso, Hayden and Andrea Iannone all agreed that the bike is a step forward, but were the two factory riders were divided on whether the bike should take the place of the current machine they are riding.
Andrea Dovizioso would like to use the new machine in the upcoming Barcelona round, but Nicky Hayden was not completely convinced, so he’ll probably continue with his regular machine, as Ducati (and their frame supplier) won’t have the time to produce enough parts for both riders, so the question is moot.
“We did some good testing, especially today: setup, new parts, and riding with the new frame to try and get the most out of it, and we were consistently fast,” said Dovizioso.
“We rode all day at 1:48 in every exit, which is very important.
When I wanted to push, I did a 48.
2, which is a good time.
I could’ve gone faster, but I’m pleased with my speed and consistency.
We improved a bit with the various changes to the weight distribution and my riding position.
The improvements aren’t huge, and this frame won’t make enough difference to reduce the gap, but for me it’s still a small improvement.
We’ll see if we can have it ready in time for the weekend in Barcelona, or if we’ll just use it in the post-race test.
”“If we’re completely honest, we didn’t achieve the progress that we’d hoped for, which is unfortunate.
This laboratory bike has some positives, but at the moment, the lap time is very similar to our current bike.
Hopefully these days will help the engineers to learn something.
Thanks to my guys for coming here and working hard, because it’s not easy to go back to the track and test after a long GP weekend,” commented Hayden who is still suffering from hand issues.
Michele Pirro said, “The test was affected by the weather, as it rained in the afternoon on all three days.
Compared to the other riders, I had to focus on some aspects of the frame and the engine in order to bring the development forward.
We certainly found some positives, and we hope that they’ll prove useful in the coming races, where I’ll ride the bike that I raced this past Sunday.
I’m pleased with the work we did, so now we’ll wait for Barcelona to see if the things we tried will work a bit better.
”Pramac’s Andrea Iannone started the test a day earlier, and on Wednesday rode his own GP13 and during the last two days tested the GP laboratory machine to give his feedback that he believes still needs improvements, but believes that Ducati is on the right track.
“I’m very happy to have had the chance to try the ‘laboratory’ bike.
I found it a little bit better than the other one, with some advantages for riding, including better agility in change of direction.
I improved my pace compared to what I did over the race weekend, when I had a lot of trouble.
It was important that I improve in order to better understand the problem we had with the shock in the race.
Now we can be more relaxed as we head to Barcelona, where the most important thing will be to figure out how to improve my pace after we change the tyre.
Currently, I’m clocking the same times with a new one as I do a tyre that has 26 laps on it.
I have to learn how to take advantage with a new tyre,” said Iannone.
Max Biaggi’s test was as Paolo Ciabatti said just a ’simple test’, apparently with no ulterior motives and letting the Roman Emperor get back on a MotoGP bike after eight years, and giving both Ducati and Pramac some excellent media coverage.
“I’m back to being a rider for the first time in eight months! It was great because this is a sport that I really love, and after what feels like a long time, it was a great opportunity to ride a MotoGP bike.
In the early laps I actually felt that I had really been away for eight years, because a MotoGP bike always has an immediate reaction, and a progression that just doesn’t exist in a Superbike.
It was also nice because I established a great feeling with the group of people who were assigned to me for this test, just like when I began in Aprilia in 2009.
There was a positive feeling between all of us, even though it was just a single test.
I’d like to thank first Ducati, and also team Pramac for this opportunity.
We were rather unfortunate because out of two days available we more or less only had one due to the rain, but it’s better than nothing.
We didn’t do any damage and we had some good fun!” said Biaggi.