Ducati boss: Valentino Rossi highly motivated for 2012

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Valentino Rossi remains motivated and determined to transform Ducati’s fortunes in MotoGP, despite conceding he’s little chance to start the new 1000cc era in Qatar on Sunday night with a rostrum.

Ducati boss Vittoriano Guareschi says Rossi’s motivation remains high, despite a tough pre-season testing campaign for the nine-times world champion.

A radical new GP12 with twin spar aluminium frame aimed at curing a persistent understeer issue has not yet delivered the vast improvement the 33-year-old had hoped.

And he finished the last pre-season test in Jerez in sixth position, but he was still almost a second adrift of the fastest pace set by reigning world champion Casey Stoner.

But Guareschi said Rossi’s motivation remains strong. “He is not young like when arrived in Yamaha in 2004 but the motivation is very high and I think Valentino with good support can fight for victories. It is important to have a good start and stay close to the top,“ said Guareschi.

Despite a disastrous 2011 that saw Rossi score just one podium finish all year and lose his record of winning at least one race each year in his Grand Prix career, the Italian never publicly blasted Ducati.

Previously at Honda and Yamaha, Rossi wasn’t afraid to voice concerns about the performance of his machinery.

But in public at least so far, he has refused to condemn Ducati for a lack of results.

Guareschi added: “Valentino understood immediately that we worked to improve the bike and not stay in the same situation. We understand what he wanted and we started immediately to change the bike.

"It was not possible to immediately change the bike and we needed time to develop. But we knew we had to make a completely different bike. I think because of this Valentino stayed very calm.”

Rossi’s former factory Yamaha boss Davide Brivio agrees and he told MCN: “I think because he can see just how hard they are working it is very difficult to criticise or complain.

"The engineers really want to make this bike a success. They built three bikes last year and it is very hard to say bad things.”

Brivio also has no doubts about Rossi’s motivation heading to the first race in Doha on Sunday night. But he said it was imperative that the GP12 improves in the early part of the season to keep Rossi's motivation up.

Brivio added: “I still see Valentino strongly motivated but honestly I don’t know how long he can keep his motivation without seeing some results. He needs to see some encouragement to keep his motivation.

"I’m not sure how long it can last at this level if the results don’t come. He really wants to get back to the top and to taste again the enjoyment of being at the front.”

source: MCN

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Guareschi: Rossi could go faster

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Vittoriano Guareschi didn't try to hide his dissatisfaction with Valentino Rossi being just 10th fastest at the end of Sepang testing, but he also knows that the Italian rider worked extremely hard over the last three days: "He completed an enormous workload - the Ducati team manager revealed - testing a large number of different setups and solutions.  It's normal that a rider wouldn't achieve maximum performance in this situation, when their priority isn't outright speed, unless they have a bit of luck."

The GP12 is still in its early stages of development, and Vittoriano believes there is plenty of room for improvement: "The fact that Valentino's performance was very similar to that of Hayden, who is only at 70% physically, shows that Rossi could have done more. If he was just concentrating on gaining confidence with the bike, he would definitely have been faster, but his priorities are elsewhere at the moment."

This meant that he wasn't overly surprised by Hector Barbera's 6th fastest time on the satellite bike: "The work carried out by Hector during this test has been completely different.  His bike was identical to the version he had one month ago, so he could concentrate fully on learning it better, adapting to it, and building confidence.  His best lap time was not outside of Valentino's range. The same thing applies to the other satellite riders who were faster than us."

Since Guareschi no longer performs any testing duties, some have been left to wonder if he should consider getting on the bike again: "Absolutely not - he responded quickly - right now test riders aren't what is needed.  Only the race riders can take this bike to the limit, lapping in those times and providing the right feedback."

Vittoriano is cautiously optimistic about the team's next outing: "Obviously we would prefer to be further up the order, but both riders liked the new electronics package that we had for this test.  We also had to perform a lot of necessary work.  We will head to Jerez with much clearer ideas, and Valentino will be free to concentrate on his riding, gaining confidence with the GP12. We will see how we perform there, and if we need to start worrying or not." 

source: GP One

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Ducati: the "Phoenix" is ready to fly

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After their third and final day of "secret" testing at Jerez, Ducati has broken the silence with a brief press release. 

"The Ducati Test Team, directed by Technical Director Filippo Preziosi, has completed three days of testing on the Spanish circuit of Jerez de La Frontera, with Carlos Checa and Franco Battaini followed by in the pit garage by Team Manager, Vittoriano Guareschi."

"The two riders completed a “shake-down” of the GP12, which will be tested in two weeks by the official riders, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden."

"During the three days, in which weather conditions were cold but fortunately dry, the work program was completed without any problems enabling the team to complete all checks in preparation to start the winter tests in Sepang, Malaysia from 31 January until 2 February 2012."

Not surprisingly these few lines don't reveal very much, as they have clearly made an effort to be as vague as possible. 

So the mystery of the GP12 lives on, forcing us to wait a few more weeks before we receive the initial feedback on Filippo Preziosi's latest creation. At least it now seems clear that Ducati intend to call the bike the GP12, even if it's something of a misnomer; while the name 'GPZero' was essentially invented by the press, the number of changes made to the 2012 bike mean it could easily be called the GP12.3, or even the GP13, if that number weren't considered unlucky.

A name we do agree with is "Operation Phoenix," something Alex Brigs first mentioned on twitter.  In a little over ten days we'll know if the new Desmosedici can rise from the flames and learn to fly again.

One final note: at the conclusion of the test session, Carlos Checa returned to his familiar 1198 SBK, saying on twitter: "the bike felt good, but with an extra 6Kg it's harder to ride."

source: GPOne

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Vito Guareschi, "I think Scott Redding could be very fast in MotoGP"

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Speaking to BikesSportNews.com , Vito Guareschi, Ducati team boss said that Scott Redding is one of their favorites to make the jump to MotoGP.

Guareschi, who also performs functions Ducati occasional test driver makes a call to the generation change in MotoGP.

"We need a generational change in MotoGP. I really like Scott Redding. In Moto2 is penalized for his physique, but I think it could be very fast in a MotoGP. I also hope that the arrival of the CRT enable young people to enter the category" , stated the Italian.

Recall that Redding at 19 1'80m far exceeds the height and both his team and have always found it to have many aerodynamic problems in Moto2 top speed, which is not what happened in their first seasons in the 125cc class at it found in 15 years, achieving his first and only victory in GG.PP. framed in the same season the Spanish team BQR.

source: motocuatro.com

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Guareschi: starting over from scratch

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So far we have heard from both factory Ducati riders, the CEO, the Director General and the Technical Director (Rossi, Hayden, Del Torchio, Domenicali, and Preziosi, respectively).  Today it was the turn of team manager Vittoriano Guareschi to hold a press conference at Wrooom.

"We clearly need to get results this year - Vitto began - Perhaps we won't be winning right away, but we must be challenging for the podium."

The key to all of this, of course, is the new bike. "We needed to start from scratch.  The GP12 is a pure prototype.  We did every test possible with the GP11.1, and we gathered a tremendous amount of data for the design of a completely new bike."

The drastic changes were also out of necessity. "We reached the setup limits of the old bike and we needed to go beyond them, leading us to some important changes.  This was only possible if we redesigned the entire bike, since simple modifications weren't sufficient. For example, the original frame was built to house the specific engine from that time.  If we wanted more freedom to change things, we needed to alter the engine cases.  It was a similar situation with the seat position.  Valentino was asking for a change all season long, but to improve the situation we needed to move some vital parts, and it was much more complicated than a simple modification." 

Before flying to Sepang, the new bike will debut next week in Spain. "I'll be in Jerez to supervise the test with Battaini and Checa.  The former will concentrate on reliability, and the latter on performance.  Franco will do long runs to ensure that the bikes are assembled properly and the temperatures are within normal parameters.  Carlos will try different setups with the chassis."

Once again, Valentino and 'his' team will be vital to the development process. "Up until last season, Valentino and his group were our competition.  It took a year to get to know them better, and although we went through many difficult periods together, we emerged stronger and more united.  We came through it well, despite the results on track."

Rossi has said he would like to stay at Ducati, but admitted that anything could happen with so many contracts expiring. "I'd be disappointed if we had to change our group.  Right now we might not look so great, but when the results come, nobody will want to change teams."

An eye must also be kept on the long term future. "We will need a generation change, and Moto2 has some good, young riders.  Aside from Marquez, I really like Scott Redding.  In Moto2 he is being penalized by his physical size, but I think he could be fast on a MotoGP bike.  I also hope the arrival of CRT's can help young riders move up to the premier class."

Something that seems easier in World Superbike, a series which seems to be heading in the opposite direction. "Perhaps we both need to take a step back.  Maybe Superbike should go closer to production machinery.  It would be cheaper for the manufacturers and the teams, allowing riders easier access to the racing and giving teams more choices."

And MotoGP would have to take some steps as well. "We are thinking about electronics, which many people would like to limit.  This can be done while still allowing for certain parameters to be personalized; things like injection and spark timing.  You could also limit the RPM's.  The future of our sport is a return to the past, we when had full grids and fairly even competition.  But we need to do this without taking away the possibility for research and development, because that's a fundamental reason for our participation. We need rules which level out the performance and allow for cost savings."

source: GP One

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Ducati High Aims For 2011

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Vittoriano Guareschi just spoke about his 2011 perspective with Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden inside Ducati.

“We have high aims for 2011. We know that Valentino has always won on all the bikes he has ridden and we have to try. It will be very difficult because our rivals are strong. There’s Lorenzo, who is World Champion, Dani Pedrosa, and of course Casey who will want to win. We know how strong he is because of what we all did together,” said Guareschi.


“We must make the most of a team that never seemed possible, but which has now developed from once being a dream into becoming a reality. We must follow this and win, although this will also be the objective of our rivals.”

“There won’t be pressure, because the fans know how difficult it is to win. They also know how much Valentino has won and how much we have achieved too. If everybody works well the results will come. Until now Valentino has always improved his bikes, both at Honda and Yamaha. Nicky knows how strong his new team-mate is and is conscious that together they can help to develop the bike. He wants to make it better and knows that with Valentino beside him it can be achieved.”

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