Hayden Yesterday, Rossi Today
Cycle News Staff | June 15, 2011
Nicky Hayden had his turn yesterday; today the Ducati GP12 gets put in the hands of Valentino Rossi.Hayden rode the 1000cc version of Ducati’s MotoGP bike yesterday at the Mugello circuit in Italy as the team continues to prepare for the 2012 season. Hayden’s day was a bit shorter than he would have liked with rain falling on the track on Monday night. Still, he did 83 laps but was able to sample the changes the team had made since he last rode the GP12 at Jerez in Spain,.Meanwhile, tester Franco Battaini did work with the current bike, the GP11. He was joined the bike on Monday by team manager Vittoriano Guareschi.
“It was a positive day,” Hayden said in a team release. “Even if the track conditions this morning [Tuesday] weren’t great because of the rain last night [Monday]. That caused us to get started a bit late, but we worked on the setup and some new changes that have been made to the GP12. I only started having better feeling after the lunch break, when the sun made the track conditions better. The new asphalt is definitely a big improvement, especially in some spots like the two Arrabbiate corners, which are really fun now. I’m satisfied with the steps forward that have been made with the bike since the first time I tried it, at Jerez. Thanks to Filippo [Preziosi] for giving me the opportunity to ride it again.”
