Ducati's engineering expert Filippo Preziosi reckons Valentino Rossi is like a lion trapped in a cage and he warned the Italian's rivals to expect a much more competitive threat once the Bologna factory has improved its Desmosedici machine.
Rossi hasn't posed any serious threat to the podium on a consistent basis all season and after 13 rounds off a tough debut season with Ducati, he's only scored one top three finish in Le Mans.
Preziosi made the lion in a cage reference in Misano last weekend when he was asked whether Ducati was pressing Dorna to increase the winter testing schedule to help Rossi close the gap on Honda rival Casey Stoner and former Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo.
He said: "The other companies have asked to reduce the tests just for Valentino. We don’t think the crucial point is the number of days. The crucial point is to interpret the information that comes from our riders in the right way, design the right part and test properly the parts and then the last thing is to have the right rider and we have it. They know how dangerous he is because the lion is in the cage. When we open the cage it will be very dangerous."
source: MCN
