Ducati News Today

By sheer luck, I sat down in front of my computer just moments before Valentino Rossi walked into the pit garage wearing unbranded black and fluorescent yellow Dainese leathers and a matching AGV lid featuring a large question mark on the top. That summed up the situation perfectly as Rossi swung a leg over the menacing in black carbon fiber Ducati Desmosedici that had been warmed up by the factory tester. How will this new adventure unfold?

The Greatest of All Time performed his pre-mounting rituals as a swarm of photographers hovered their trigger fingers just above the shutter releases of their cameras. Still under Yamaha contract, Valentino had only his number 46 on the bike as he rolled down pit lane. It was simply amazing to watch how tentative his first lap was on a new bike with slicks on a damp but drying track. Looking more like a track day rider than a 9 time World Champion, he lapped about 20 seconds off the pace in his first flying lap, the engine warbling at low revs we hardly ever here from the big bang V4.

Then slowly, but surely he began to add speed. The engine revs rose, the body attitude relaxed and the pace was layered on, progressively, deliberately. Each lap was about a second or so faster than the last until after 12 laps he had set a 1:37.329, still miles off Stoner’s pole time of 1:31.799 set only days earlier but good enough for a first run in dodgy conditions. Rossi spent most of the day riding the 2011 incarnation of the big bang powerplant but did make some laps with the more powerful, but harder to ride screamer later in the day.

Yamaha had forbidden Rossi to make any public comment so Felipe Preziosi General Director of Ducati Corse did all the talking to the press. Clearly it was a historic day for the father of the Desmosedici.

“It has been an exciting day for sure. The main thing that hit me today was Vale’s positive feedback and his capacity for analysis. Today he tested the GP11 with the ‘big bang’ engine on a standard setting, which he modified step by step to adapt it to his riding style. His first comment when he lifted his visor up was a positive one about the power delivery and then he gave some impressive technical details.”

link: MotoGP.com

By the end of the first day, Vale was 10th fastest, his lap of 1:33.882 some 1.87 seconds behind Jorge Lorenzo who obviously had the benefit of not having to learn a new bike. More ominously, Casey Stoner was immediately fast on the Honda, taking the 2nd fastest time of the day, albeit more than three quarters of a second down on the World Champion. Few should doubt that the title will likely be decided amongst these 3 riders with the possible addition of Dani Pedrosa if he can recapture his new found, pre-crash form.

Perhaps the question mark placed so prominently on Vale’s helmet (and the hard to parse ‘Tribe of Chihuahua’s’ inscription just above the visor) is his way of acknowledging for us all his awareness of the boldness and riskiness of the Ducati switch. The Yamaha is still the best bike in the paddock and he has left his greatest rival armed with it. But bold moves show Rossi at his best as racing fans and Lorenzo were reminded at Motegi. Lest we forget, Valentino won first time out on the Yamaha at Welkom in 2004 on a bike that ended the previous season in a far weaker state than Preziosi’s baby. It’s going to be a long winter.

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Opening photo via Alex Briggs on Twitter

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