DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM MAKES LONG-AWAITED EUROPEAN MotoGP DEBUT
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Troy Bayliss and Loris Capirossi bring the awesome Desmosedici to Spain this weekend for its long-awaited European race debut at Jerez, the first and biggest Grand Prix of the Continental MotoGP campaign.
Bayliss, Capirossi and the 220-plus horsepower Italian V4 made headlines at the season-opening Japanese and Africa’s GPs, leading both races and dazzling fans with speed and noise – the snarling 16,000rpm Desmosedici is music to the ears of any motorsport fan.
The Ducati Marlboro Team’s entry into MotoGP has brought a whole new dynamic to the class, adding the kind of passion, colour and excitement that only the legendary Italian marque could bring. And the team’s season-opening performances have exceeded even the most optimistic expectations, Capirossi making the podium at Suzuka, Bayliss now fourth overall in the riders’ points chase and Ducati currently second in the manufacturers’ World Championship!
Jerez, which regularly attracts in excess of 200,000 fans, is the first of nine European races that make up more than half of the 16-race 2003 MotoGP campaign. The racing moves out of Europe again in late September, the season concluding at Valencia, Spain, on November 2.
GREAT RESULTS EQUAL HIGHER EXPECTATIONS
The Ducati Marlboro Team’s remarkable start to its MotoGP adventure has delighted race fans around the world. Despite the marque’s illustrious history of World Superbike success, no one quite expected so much, so soon in MotoGP. Capirossi’s and Bayliss’ speed during qualifying and racing has already put them ahead of many of the rival teams, who have much greater experience in GP racing.
And yet, as befits the team’s hard-working but laidback style, the Bologna-based crew isn’t letting the hype and hubbub affect its approach to racing, instead keeping its feet very much on the ground, knowing full well that its riders’ stunning pace only increases expectations.
“We achieved great results in the first two races,” says
Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “It’s a nice feeling but the pressure within the team to stay there is very high, and we know we still have a lot of learning to do.”
The riders and engineers are particularly looking forward to Jerez, since they have some knowledge of the circuit. They commenced the Japanese GP with just a few hours of track time and went to South Africa with zero track knowledge. But they do know Jerez, having visited the circuit three times during the winter. The data gained from those tests will be crucial this weekend, even though Capirossi’s and Bayliss’ bikes have changed substantially since then, as it’s normal in a very young bike as the Desmosedici.
“The bikes are very different in set-up compared to when we last went to Jerez in February, but basically the same as they were at Welkom,” says Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. “We are now much closer to having a good front/rear balance – both the riders are happy. Now when we make changes, the riders often say they don’t like them, which is a sign that the bike is much closer to how it should be! In the early stages of our testing programme the riders would like whatever changes we made.
“Last time we went to Jerez we had wheelspin problems, but traction was much better at Suzuka and Welkom, so it should be good for Jerez. We made some important changes to front-end geometry before Welkom, but both ends affect one another, you improve the front and that can help the rear, and vice versa.”
Cecchinelli expects Jerez to be a good test of the Desmosedici. “It’s a complete track, so it’s good for testing. It has fast and slow corners, uphill braking into turn one and downhill braking into the hairpin, so you need a well balanced bike, with a good compromise set-up.”
ALL-ACTION BAYLISS – SOME ROOKIE!
Troy Bayliss may officially be a MotoGP rookie, but he seems anything but in reality. The Australian’s all-action performances at last month’s Japanese and Africa’s GPs were nothing less than sensational, marking an extraordinary arrival in MotoGP both for himself and for the Ducati Marlboro Team.
The former World Superbike champion qualified on the fourth row for his MotoGP debut at Suzuka but rocketed through to finish fifth, even though he was the only rider present with no race experience of the complex Japanese track. Two weeks ago at Welkom in South Africa he qualified on row three, just under 0.6 of a second from the pole position time, swept into the lead until one-third distance and finished fourth. During the race he enjoyed a frantic six-lap battle with Valentino Rossi (Honda), showing no quarter to the World Champion. For many fans the pair’s duel was the highlight of the race.
Jerez is particularly significant for Bayliss because it’s the first MotoGP event he’ll contest with any real track knowledge. The Aussie tested at Jerez three times during the winter but has yet to race in anger there. “I’m looking forward to it, because it’ll be nice to get to a track where I know my way around,” says Bayliss, who is delighted with development progress, especially with the fruits of a pre-Welkom tests at Mugello, when his crew took crucial steps forward on chassis set-up.
“Now it feels more like my bike,” he explains. “It’s better into corners and mid-turn and we’re not getting so much spin on the exits. Before, the bike always needed to be on its side, so we were right on the side of the tyre, now you can pick it up easier and get onto the fatter part of the tyre for the drive out of the corner.”
Bayliss heads to Jerez motivated, optimistic and in great shape, as his results showed at the "Granfondo 5 colli", the renowned annual bicycle race that takes place around Bologna. "Cycling is my next passion after racing, and coming in 12th place out of a total of 1253 participants after a good 83 Km was exactly the boost I needed before Spain!"
CAPIROSSI AIMS FOR THE PODIUM AGAIN
Loris Capirossi comes to Jerez determined to fight for another podium result to back up his phenomenal third-place finish at the season-opening Japanese Grand Prix, where he astounded onlookers by leading the first few laps. The Italian followed that performance at Welkom a fortnight ago by scoring the Ducati Marlboro’s Team’s first front-row start, but he was unluckier in the race, withdrawing after two off-track excursions.
Capirossi has been awesome to behold on the Desmosedici, and he believes that Sunday’s Spanish GP offers his best chance so far of a top result with the bike, because he’s already tested the V4 there. “It’s a nice track and we had some very good tests there during the winter,” says the former 125 and 250 World Champion who lapped at record pace on his very first visit to Jerez with the new Ducati. “I’m keen to get back there to get an idea of exactly how much the bike has improved since winter testing.
“We have changed various aspects of engine and chassis set-up. We were having wheelspin trouble, but we’ve gone a long way to curing this problem. The team is great – very effective at understanding any difficulties I’m having and then doing whatever is necessary to solve them. Jerez is the kind of track where you use the tyres really hard, so you have to work towards a good compromise set-up that works consistently well with the tyres at race pace.”
Capirossi has been racing at Jerez since he started GPs in 1990, but he’s only won a single race there – the 1998 Spanish 250 GP –and he’s yet to finish in the top three in the premier GP class at the track.
THE TRACK
Constructed in 1986, Jerez hosted its first Grand Prix the following year and has remained on the World Championship calendar ever since. Through the nineties the event grew to become the most popular GP of all.
Riders love the Andalucian venue because it’s a track that rewards rider talent over machine performance. Many of the circuit’s 13 corners flow into one another, placing the emphasis on smooth, neat riding and stable, all-round machine performance. The circuit character places particular emphasis on front-tyre grip, though the many slow-speed turns also require MotoGP riders to control wheelspin as they power out of the corners. Last year the track underwent resurfacing and total reconstruction of its infrastructure.
JEREZ: 4.423km/2.748 miles
Lap record: Valentino Rossi (Honda) 1m 42.920s, 153.429kmh/95.336mph
Pole position 2002: Rossi 1m 42.193s
DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM DATA LOGS
TROY BAYLISS
Age: 34
Lives: Monaco
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici
First GP: Australia, 1997 (250)
GP starts: 3 (2xMotoGP, 1x250)
World Superbike victories: 22
World Championships: 1 (Superbike: 2001)
Jerez 2002 results: DNS
LORIS CAPIROSSI
Age: 30
Lives: Monaco
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici
GP victories: 22 (2x500, 12x250, 8x125)
First GP victory: Britain, 1990 (125)
First GP: Japan, 1990 (125)
GP starts: 186 (16xMotoGP, 59x500, 84x250, 27x125)
Pole positions: 33 (5x500, 23x250, 5x125)
First pole: Australia, 1991 (125)
World Championships: 3 (125: 1990, 1991, 250: 1998)
Jerez 2002 results. Grid: 3rd. Race: 4th
[Modificato da offalcon 09/11/2003 7.55]