The fourth round of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship at Le Mans saw the best result for the Ducati team since the departure of Casey Stoner at the end of the 2010 season. After so much unrewarded hard work by Ducati and their factory riders, it was a boost to see a glimmer of hope even if [...]
As forecast, rain on raceway through a cat amongst the pigeons for the French MotoGP at Le Mans on Sunday. With Dani Pedrosa on pole and Casey Stoner fresh from his retirement announcement, the wet weather promised to increase the chances of a good Ducati result at the scene of Valentino Rossi’s only podium Ducati finish to date.
Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden posted the seventh and eleventh best times, respectively, in today’s qualifying session for the French Grand Prix. For the Italian, who today was consistent in both the dry morning session and the mixed conditions of the afternoon, it was his best qualifying result of the season.
Reigning MotoGP World Champion Casey Stoner stunned the paddock at Le Mans and the motorcycle racing community with the announcement at the pre-event press conference that he will retire from MotoGP at the end of this year.
Having encountered at least one day of rain during every winter test and in every race so far except for Qatar, the two Ducati Team riders hope for a weekend with stable weather conditions at Le Mans as they continue working on the setup of the GP12.
The six engine limit and the need to test proposed changes will mean that Ducati riders Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will have to wait until the US MotoGP at Laguna Seca in July to race with a new engine package that promises to improve driveability off the turns.
Valentino Rossi is no stranger to rumor (nor is Casey Stoner for that matter). In recent months the rumors which in our view are little more than made up lies have come thick and fast. Most have been about his supposed plans to abandon Ducati mid season or retire. Now the 9 time champion has spoken [...]
The third round of the 2012 MotoGP World Championship in Estoril saw a glimmer of hope for Valentino Rossi. He was first Ducati, beat his team-mate and finished a season best 7th. Still this is still nowhere near enough of a result to be happy about. In contrast an electronic issue put paid to hopes of another [...]
A strong, steady rain prompted organizers to cancel today’s scheduled post-race MotoGP test in Portugal. The test will be made up at a later date. The Ducati Team’s next test with Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, the first of three to be held at Mugello, will take place May 22-24, after the Le Mans Grand Prix.
The Portuguese Grand Prix saw the Ducati Team improving with Valentino Rossi and unfortunate with Nicky Hayden. After two days of working on his GP12’s settings, the Italian lapped at a pace that was both relatively fast and very consistent, eventually finishing in seventh place, which is his best result of the season so far.
