Ducati Team duo hopeful for sunshine in Portugal

MotoGP series proceeds to action at a track that is very demanding and full of contrasts. Despite it having the lowly average speed of the tracks on the calendar, the Estoril circuit also includes very fast sections, counting one of the longest straight aways of the year.

Valentino Rossi has won five times in his eleven premier-class visits to the track, and he has ended on the podium on five other occasions, whilst the best result of his team-mate Nicky Hayden is a fourth place in 2007. The American will be looking to erect on his rostrum finish last time out in Jerez.

Valentino Rossi, Ducati Team

“We’ve had three weekends without a race so I was clever to unwind for a while following the GP12 test at Jerez, although I sustained training to help my physical recovery. Now we go to Estoril, a track I quite like, where we’ll carry on working on the GP11’s setup, particularly during the test on Monday. The conditions are often changeable at Estoril because the area is very windy and close to the ocean, making for variable weather. We saw at Jerez that we’re already spirited in the wet, however we’re hoping for sun in Portugal, so that we can make the most of our time on the track. We still have to understand the bike better and to work on the setup, with the goal of being faster in the dry in time for the mainly intense phase of the season, when we’ll have six races in eight weeks initial in June.”

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Rossi satisfied with Qatar improvement and shoulder

The Ducati Team rider was pleased with day one at the MotoGP Test in Qatar, despite a minor fall on his GP11. Team-mate Nicky Hayden was also in a optimistic mood after Sunday's session.

With the opening round of the MotoGP World Championship just around the corner, the Ducati MotoGP Team made steady development during the first half of a two-night pre-season Test at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit, where temperatures were around 23°C and track circumstances decent. Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden both completed the evening firmly inside the top ten, and they look onward to taking further steps on Monday.

Valentino Rossi, 8th, 1'57.038:

“It wasn’t terrible for a first day. I was able to ride the bike better, and I enjoyed myself. Although I was just eighth, my times aren’t too far from the top: seven tenths is still a big difference, but anyway it’s progress, bearing in mind that I did my best time with a very used tyre. We worked well on the settings, even if in a couple parts of the circuit I’m still not fast sufficient, and we’ll have to try some more solutions tomorrow. As for the shoulder, I’m happy because I have a little more strength, and that enables me to ride better. Today I also had my first crash on a Ducati, which I naturally did deliberately because after a while, you have to do a little fall… All joking aside, I entered too quickly and lost the front: I was able to pick it up and avoid deafening while I was on the track, but I dropped it in the gravel – no big deal though.”

Nicky Hayden, 9th, 1'57.137:

“Right out of the gate, it wasn’t too bad, and then we were up against a wall for a while. The team made one little change with ride height and I was able to get a polite lap time and get reliable. In parts of the track I felt pretty good, but there are spots where the navigation still needs to improve. If we can do better in those areas, we should be able to drop the lap time. I feel a little bit closer than Malaysia, but we certainly need to go earlier tomorrow.”

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State of Indiana presents Hayden with award

Nicky Hayden earned the Executive Director's Award presented by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) for his dedication and service to the Indiana Motorcycle Safety and the Awareness campaign.

Indianapolis Motor Speedway Senior Vice President Mel Harder accepted the award on Hayden's behalf from ICJI Executive Director T. Neil Moore at the 16th annual Operation Pull Over Awards Banquet on Nov. 19 in Carmel, Ind. The ICJI and Governor's Council on Impaired & Dangerous Driving played host to the banquet.

"I'm honored to receive this award," Hayden said. "It's been great to work with everyone from the ICJI on this project. I know how great riding motorcycles can be when done the right way, and I'm happy to help increase awareness of safety for all riders in Indiana and everywhere."

Ducati Team star Hayden lent his time and talent to endorse safe, sober riding by all motorcyclists across Indiana. He was featured in many radio and television spots warning against drinking and riding and speeding, and promoting motorist awareness and the use of a helmet and other safety gear. Hayden also was featured in the outdoor and print advertising portion of the popular campaign.

Capirossi to announce Ducati return at 200th MotoGP?

Loris Capirossi is set to make his 200th 500cc/MotoGP start this weekend at the Misano, when he might also announce a return to the Ducati for 2011.

The Italian - a factory Ducati rider from 2003-2007 and a Rizla Suzuki rider since - is known to be negotiating closely for a seat with the satellite Pramac Ducati squad for 2011.

Misano, the last home round of the year for Capirossi, Pramac and Ducati, would be an ideal time to announce if a deal has been done. Capirossi has also been linked with the Honda LCR.

Capirossi - a former 125 and double 250cc world champion with nine premier-class grand prix victorious to his credit - hasn't taken a podium since Brno 2008 (his 99th in grand prix and also Suzuki's most recent podium) and is a disappointing 13th in the 2010 championship with seven rounds to go.

The 37-year-old will become only the second rider in the 62-year history of motorcycle Grand Prix racing to reach the milestone of 200 starts in the premier-class, behind Honda Pons former team-mate Alex Barros (245 starts).

Capirossi made his premier-class GP debut in the opening race of the 1995 season at the Eastern Creek in Australia and competed for two years in the class before dropping back down to the 250cc class for three years.

The #65 then return to 500cc in 2000 and has been in the premier-class ever since.

Below are some other facts and statistics relating to the Capirossi's career in the
premier-class:

* Capirossi has the fourth longest winning career of all-time in the premier-class: 10 years 338 days between his first win in the 500cc class at Eastern Creek Australia in 1996 and his last MotoGP win in Japan in 2007. Only Alex Barros, Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini have longer winning careers in the premier-class.

* Capirossi has won premier-class GP races on four different motorcycles: 500cc Yamaha, 500cc Honda, 990cc Ducati and 800cc Ducati.

* Capirossi is one of only four riders to have won in the premier-class on bikes from three different manufacturers. The other riders to have done this are: Mike Hailwood, Eddie Lawson and Randy Mamola.

Hayden returns to scene of sole Ducati podium

Despite an impressive start to the 2010 MotoGP season, which saw four fourth-places from the first five races, Nicky Hayden will doubtless be disappointed to be returning to the scene of his debut Ducati podium - at his home Indianapolis round this weekend - without any further top three finishers to his name.

The American has been very close, most notably at the round one in Qatar (+0.011) and Silverstone (+0.217) - and he also beat team-mate Casey Stoner fair-and-square in the first two races they both have finished this season.

But Stoner has regained the initiative with five podiums in the last five rounds and Hayden, who could be confirmed as a 2011 Ducati rider alongside Valentino Rossi this weekend, will be fired up to continue his perfect podium record at Indy - having finished second in 2008 and third in the 2009.

"I really can't wait to get to Indy for the race," said Hayden. "It's such a famous track with so much history and being so close to my home I got a big crew making the trip to support me and my brother [Roger, racing in the Moto2 event].

"The event has really grown a lot in just a few years with the Indy mile dirt track, enduro cross, the stunt shows and all the downtown events, which really gives the fans a chance to make the trip worthwhile."

Hayden chipped his wrist in a practice fall at the previous Brno round, but insists the injury won't be a problem this weekend.

"My broken wrist is better than last week in the Brno, which I am very happy about, so we'll see on Friday just how much better. The weather looks good so I hope to come out strong from the gun on Friday and have a weekend worth remembering. Let's get it!" he declared.

"This is one of the most important races of the year for Nicky and definitely the one he looks forward to the most," added team manager Vittoriano Guareschi. "He finished third last year and considering the big steps forward he has made this season, coming close to the podium on the several occasions, we hope he can be celebrating a similar result."

Rossi Signs With Ducati for Two Years

Valentino Rossi, the great Italian motorcycle rider, confirmed about the recent rumors that he will be joining Ducati in 2011.

Rossi is the reigning MotoGP champion. But he has been facing strong competition from within his Yamaha team. Jorge Lorenzo, a young Spaniard, is leading the series and appears to be the face of the Yamaha’s future. For the last couple of the years, the team has been unable to conceal the two riders’ dislike of each other.

Rumors about a Rossi move to Ducati have swirled around the MotoGP paddock for the months. But they grew stronger when Ducati rider Casey Stoner announced in July a move from the Italian outfit to the Repsol Honda team. It was all but certain that an announcement from the Rossi about a jump to Ducati would come soon after. The terms of the deal were not revealed, though it is believed to be around $19 million a year.

“Working with Valentino is one of the most exciting things for every engineer, and it’s good to know we will have this great opportunity for the next season,” said Filippo Preziosi, manager of the Ducati Racing.

The last time Rossi switched teams was in 2004, when he moved from the Repsol Honda, then the best team on the grid, to Yamaha, a middling team. Rossi immediately won the championship in 2004 and brought Yamaha back to the prominence, winning four titles with the team.

“Many things have changed since that far-off time in 2004,” said Rossi in a statement describing the improvement in his Yamaha motorcycle, “but especially ’she,’ my M1, has changed. At that time, she was a poor middle-grid position MotoGP bike, derided by most of the riders and the MotoGP workers. Now, after having helped her to grow and improve, you can see her smiling in her garage, courted and admired, treated as the ‘top of the class.’”

Stoner evaluates new forks

The Ducati Team rider noted an improved front-end feeling on his factory Desmosedici GP10 at the Brno test.

Casey Stoner and his Ducati Team worked with a new set of the front forks at the official MotoGP test at the Brno on Monday, but the rain cut short the day’s work as the Australian began to gain a positive sensation and set the second best time.

Seeking a solution to the front-end problems that have affected his machine this season Stoner reported a good feeling with the new part, but commented that he will need further time on them before knowing for certain whether they will improve his overall set-up.

"We tried a new fork today and as far as we could tell the feeling is positive. Unfortunately we were only able to get a couple of the hours in this morning because immediately after lunch it started to rain and we couldn't complete the test,” said Stoner, who is now likely to use the new fork at the next round at the Indianapolis.

“I believe we can use the new forks, whether or not they’re a big improvement I don’t know. We started to get quite a good feeling with them but at the beginning of the season I had a good feeling with the other forks and I crashed when everything felt great.”

“We don’t know if we’ll continue using them or not, we have to get a little bit more data and feedback and see of it’s going to work. Other than that we basically have the same bike as we’ve had all year.”