Czech motorcycle rider Karel Abraham will ride with more powerful and faster bike in his second season in the MotoGP class. The new Ducati Desmosedici GP12 is powered by four-stroke 1000 ccm engine with four cylinders and power of 250HP, which allows maximum speed of 360 km per hour.
Comparing to the last year's model, the new bike has completely modified concept. For example, carbon chassis is replaced by deltabox aluminium frame. "At first glance it may appear that the bike is similar to the last year's model, but under the fairing is a series of significant changes," says crew chief of Cardion AB Motoracing Marco Grana, who spent two weeks in Bologna with his colleagues from the Czech team.
Also the external part of the bike is slightly modified, but the design is still based on a combination of blue and white colors. "In 2012 we decided to return to the blue color a little bit, but I think that our bike will be still well recognizable," continues Karel Abraham. Atypical wings, which he used on the fairing of his bike in 2011 to increase the pressure on the front wheel, will disappear this year.
Most of the components on the new bike are from the same manufacturer as last year. Suspension of Abraham's bike is provided by Öhlins while the brakes are from Brembo. All teams from the premier class use Bridgestone tyres. "I tried the new bike during the post-season test in Valencia, but the first real test will be held at Sepang in Malaysia at the end of January. We need to be well prepared for the first test because we want to try a lot of things. We also must work on the set-up of the bike because the 2012 MotoGP season kicks off in Qatar on April 8th," added Karel Abraham.
According to the provisional entry list for the 2012 MotoGP World Championship, the Cardion AB Motoracing rider will compete against eleven bikes from Ducati, Honda and Yamaha. Other nine positions on the grid will be filled by CRT teams using bikes based on serial machines. Between many rookies are also Abraham's old friends from the Moto2 class, for example reigning Moto2 world champion Stefan Bradl. "Thanks to the increased number of riders, the MotoGP will be more attractive for spectators and for us. It's great that I will ride against my old rivals and friends, but I'm concetrating on my goal – be on the front positions as much as possible, regardless the factory machines or a CRT bikes."
source: motomatters.com
