After Sunday’s MotoGP race at Le Mans where Valentino Rossi finished 2nd, Ducati packed up everything and headed to Mugello for a three-day private test that will start today, with Ducati test rider Franco Battaini giving a shakedown to the new series of upgrades, including electronics and a new engine with a smoother delivery that Filippo Preziosi has prepared for the GP12 before the arrival of Rossi and Nicky Hayden tomorrow.
These new parts and the engine will debut, if Rossi and Hayden approve of them, not before the Laguna Seca round late July, as Ducati will carry out a further two test sessions in June and July.
At the Tuscany circuit with the Ducati test team is former World Superbike champion and Borgo Panigale’s part time test rider Troy Bayliss who posted this photo of two 1199 Panigales on his Facebook page stating “Two bikes to play with, TB21.
” Bayliss will be testing the Superbike before Carlos Checa gets to ride it for the first time sometime next month.
Unfortunately the test will be behind closed doors – but who knows if Rossi and Hayden and Bayliss will switch bikes just for the fun it.
Update:Aprilia’s WSBK test team is also at Mugello with Alex Hofmann, so we may get some inside news on how the Ducati is performing.