Ducati’s Final 2011 Race Ends at the First Turn
After a positive first two days during the final round of the 2011 MotoGP season, the Ducati Team had an unfortunate and premature end to the Valencia Grand Prix, with riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden both being taken out of the race in a Turn 1 racing incident.
The American experienced pain and swelling in his right hand following the fall, but an X-ray in the mobile clinic didn’t reveal any fractures. Rossi and Hayden finish the season seventh and eight, respectively, in the final points standings.
Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) DNF
“There’s really nothing to say about today, other than that I’m sorry beyond measure not to have been able to put on Sic’s T-shirt for the lap of honour. It’s truly a shame. I started well and all the conditions were in our favour for having a nice race, but we were unfortunate and received no points here either. We finish the season tied with Sic, with him ahead of me in the standings. I guess that’s my tribute to him!”
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) DNF
“I felt some riders coming up the inside really fast as we approached Turn 1. Then something happened and it was just the domino effect—race over in the first corner. I’m okay other than my hand being pretty sore. It’s unfortunate. One of our bike’s strengths is generating heat in the tyres, and that’s what you need on a cold, wet track like this. Already on the warm-up lap, the bike felt good. It’s easy to say now, but I honestly feel like we could have put up a decent fight today and had some fun.”
Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager)
“Today I’m particularly sorry to have to talk about a race in which once again, we weren’t able to capitalize on our potential. In practice, both Vale and Nicky demonstrated that they were able to ride this track well in the conditions that we had for the race, but after they both started well, they really were victims of a classic first-turn crash. It happens, but it hurt Ducati worse than the others. There’s not much else to say. Now we’ll focus on the work that’s about to start for 2012.”
The final round seemed to capture the essence of the entire season. Casey Stoner equaled Mick Doohan’s pole position record and then went on to score his 10th victory of the season. Valentino Rossi crashed out for the third time in a row ending any chance of a second podium finish in a year where he never once looked like challenging for victory. And the final race of the 800cc era showed once again, that the only way to make the race class interesting is for the weather to intervene. For Ducati fans, 2011 is a MotoGP year best forgotten. Roll on 2012.
A post-race test will take place at the Valencia circuit on this Tuesday and Wednesday which will see the 1,000cc spec machines from Ducati, Honda and Yamaha all on track together for the first time. Ducati is expected to debut an aluminum beam frame machine for Rossi and Hayden to test.
Source: Edited Ducati Corse Release
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