Jeremy Burgess criticizes Ducati's slowness

Valentino Rossi’s two-year debacle in Ducati has left many wondering if it was him or the Desmosedici that wasn’t competitive (we’ll probably find out in the post race test at Valencia at the end of the season). In an interview with the MotoGP.com website, Rossi once again confirmed the prinicpal problem that he has had, is lack of front end feeling:

This experience, this adventure with Ducati was very difficult already from the start. And unfortunately we were not able to fix our problem during this year and a half, and I was never competitive with this bike. We are not able to create enough grip from the front tyre and enough contact on the ground. This was the biggest problem from the Valencia test in 2010, and unfortunately after almost two years we have more or less the same problem.”

In an interview with Motorsport Magazine last July, Valentino Rossi’s legendary crewchiefJeremy Burgess (who wrenched for riders of the caliber of Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, Freddie Spencer and Randy Mamola) went a little farther in clarifying the development situation in Ducati:

“This bike is still a frame wrapped around an engine, rather than an engine designed to go in a frame. We need new crankcases because we can’t keep raising the engine because then the countershaft sprocket gets higher and higher which affects the swingarm pivot and thus handling. You’d think we would’ve had new ’cases by Le Mans, but here we are at the ninth race with the same bike we had at the first tests.

In an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport just a month later - and after Valentino Rossi announced he would be returning to Yamaha at Indianapolis, the Australian who still has to know if he’ll also be joining him, stated:

We are not far, maybe we are missing only 1 percent. In these two years, Ducati has learned a lot, and for me it is disappointing not to finish the job” and “we had to fit a frame around an engine that is already designed and it will take years or a long time to find the best solution. Ducati doesn’t have the same experience as the Japanese manufacturers.

Now Burgess, in an frank and exclusive interview with Colin Young and published in this week’s Motosprint magazine provocatively titled from a phrase of the Australian ‘If you don’t do anything, you don’t get anything,” has again criticized Ducati’s immobility. Asked what didn’t work, Burgess responded, “Nothing happened! Compared to what a Japanese manufacturer would have done there are significant differences, as you can see by counting the number of frames Honda builds in a single season.” [Honda has already debuted an early version of the 2013 machine - engine and chassis - at Laguna Seca]

He also re-confirmed that Rossi has riding on the same chassis since the opening round in Qatar [at Misano the Ducati factory riders will be debuting a new chassis and swingarm] and that they decided to leave because of slowness at Ducati and they were running out of time and couldn’t stay there to repeat a 2013 the same as 2012.

“Continuing to work in the way they work, we would be left behind for another ten years. We’ve the same chassis as the first race of the year and a frame does more than keep the wheels separate, it must work ” and “If a Japanese company had the same results of Rossi and Hayden, it would be building a new frame in a week. The fact that the Ducati has lost Valentino is a strong message that something needs to change.”

Ducati’s change starts with riders Andrea Dovizioso, Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone and some big money from Audi.

with Twowheelsblog

Peugeot Onyx Concept: Autosalon Paris 2012

Moto3: Alexis Masbou out for Misano GP

In a testing session that was held at the Vallelunga circuit in Italy, several Moto2 teams were present to prepare for the upcoming Misano GP (Marc VDS with Mika Kallio and Scott Redding, Marcel Schroetter and Andrea Coleandrea for Team Desguaces La Torre and Italtrans with Takaaki Nakagami) and Moto3 team Carretta Technology was also there withAlexis Masbou.

The French rider suffered a highside yesterday sustaining a fractured femur and was transported to a hospital in Rome where he expected to undergo surgery that will force him out of the GP Aperol di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.

The 24-year old Masbou is currently sixth in the championship standings and his best result so far this season was a second place at Sachsenring.

with twowheelsblog and  infomoto3.com

Official: Ducati confirms Ben Spies and Andrea Iannone

With Twowheelsblog
It wasn’t exactly a state secret, so the fact that Ducati has officially announced thatBen Spies and Andrea Iannone will be riding for Pramac Racing in 2013, will no longer be a big surprise for anyone after all the speculation and hints in the recent weeks, nor the fact that they will have factory spec Desmosedici’s at their disposal, as they will be part of Ducati’s Junior team that will run under the Pramac banner.

For Spies it will be his fourth year in MotoGP racing, after spending a season with Yamaha’s satellite squad Tech3 and two seasons as a factory rider for the Iwata manufacturer, while ‘Crazy Joe’ Iannone will be making the switch from Moto2 after testing the Desmosedici GP12 two separate times at Mugello.

Spies had made the shock announcement he was leaving Yamaha at the end of the season just ahead of the Laguna Seca GP for a ‘litany of reasons’ and many thought he would be returning to World Superbikes where he took the 2009 championship title in his debut year, seemingly disgusted by the whole GP scene, but it was more likely he knew that he would have been let go to make place for returning Valentino Rossi - even if the American more or less tried to deny it. The Texan seemed to change his mind regarding MotoGP over the brief summer break and at a Brno seemed to confirm his decision to stay and then the rumors of his signing with Ducati then came fast and hard, while Iannone after his second test on the GP12 where he beat Valentino Rossi’s Mugello qualifying time, broadly hinted at the fact.

the Ducati Press Release :

Having already confirmed Nicky Hayden and announced Andrea Dovizioso for the Ducati Team, the

 Italian manufacturer now reaffirms its confidence in and commitment to the MotoGP World 

Championship, finalizing its line-up for next season with two riders who are fast and competitive,

 already protagonists in the MotoGP and Moto2™ World Championships.

At the same time, the partnership has been renewed between Ducati and Pramac Racing, which will continue to be entrusted with the management of the satellite team. The two riders, who have a direct link with the company, will be supplied with official equipment.

This agreement will enable additional important support in the development of the Desmosedici MotoGP project, offering a further opportunity in the process of improving the performance of the Italian bike.