MotoGP
Ducati Jerez IRTA test notes 2003-02-21
Ducati Marlboro team make progress at Jerez Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss had their first outing in full team livery at Jerez today, gathering more crucial data as they prepare the Desmosedici for its much-awaited ...
Published: Feb 22, 2003, 7:43 PM
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Ducati Marlboro team make progress at Jerez
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss had their first outing in full team livery at Jerez today, gathering more crucial data as they prepare the Desmosedici for its much-awaited MotoGP debut in just six weeks time.
The Italian and Australian focused on chassis set-up and ergonomic refinements, and will move on to testing Michelin's 2003 tyres tomorrow and Sunday. Next week they move onto Estoril in Portugal for further tests, before unveiling the definitive 2003 Desmosedici at next month's full-teams test at Catalunya, Spain. As at every test so far this winter, the priority is steady progress rather than lap times.
"Today we've been concentrating on the ergonomics of the bike," said Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. "This is very important and very interesting work, because it's essential that both riders are as comfortable as they can be on the bike, so they can be as efficient as possible over full-race distance. We have tried different fuel tank shapes, as well as different footpeg and handlebar positions, just moving the riders around until they feel happy. We decided to do our basic set-up work here with 2002 tyres and tomorrow we will try Michelin's 2003 tyres. On Sunday we plan to do endurance tyre tests, if the weather permits."
Capirossi was happy with the progress made today. "We are concentrating hard on our work," said the former 125 and 250 World Champion, who clocked a best of 1m 43.943s. "Today we have tried many different set-up solutions, working on the global geometry of the bike, and tomorrow we will continue with this fine tuning. The stopwatch doesn't concern me at the moment."
Steady progress was also the theme of Bayliss' day. "As always, we've got lots of little things to test, and we've been doing some stuff on ergonomics," said the former World Superbike king, whose best today was 1m 44.125s. "I've gone faster around here than ever before, and though I'm far from where I want to be on lap times, we're making good progress, and that's what counts at this stage."
This is the team's third visit to Jerez this winter, though their first test here last December was washed out due to rain. Local weather forecasts suggest there could be more rain tomorrow.
-dc-
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