PHOTOS COURTESY OF DUCATI CORSE
At last the much-awaited MotoGP Ducati Team’s Desmosedici GP15 was unveiled at the factory’s Auditorium in Bologna, Italy. The latest version of Ducati’s MotoGP machine is all new and carries the expectation of helping to close the gap in competition with Honda and Yamaha.
The man behind the new project, Ducati Corse General Manager GiGi Dall’Igna spoke of the new GP15 and the aims for 2015.
“The Desmosedici GP15 that will make its debut in the next test in Malaysia is a completely new bike, different to the one we used two weeks ago in Sepang, even though certain aspects of the aerodynamics are quite similar,” Dall’Igna said via a team release. “With the GP14.3 we have made some major progress with the software, which will be easy to switch over to the GP15, but also steps forward in the suspension, chassis and engine departments. The GP15 will start with the same settings as the GP14.3, but it will have many more possibilities for adjustment. Our aim this year is very ambitious, because we want to win at least one race. We know that it is an extremely tough objective, but we are used to accepting the most difficult of challenges. Last year we said that we wanted to reduce the gap to the winner to less than ten seconds. This was also an ambitious challenge, but we achieved it in the second half of the championship. Winning a race means finishing ahead of two giants like Honda and Yamaha and their four riders, who are for sure four of the strongest, but this in any case is our aim and we know we can count on Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone, who in my opinion are capable of fighting on equal terms with their adversaries.”
Both riders are very much looking forward to getting a crack at the new machine at the upcoming second Sepang test on February 23, especially Dovizioso in his third season with the team.
“In a few days’ time we will be going to Malaysia for the second winter test session at Sepang and I can’t wait to test the new GP15,” Dovizioso said. “I am very happy with the improvements that we managed to achieve last year and so, with this new project, I can only be optimistic for the coming season. I think that the spirit and the desire to win that I see in Ducati are vitally important for all of us. I expect a lot of support from the Ducati fans this season: we have worked a lot and well in the last couple of years and now it’s time to reap the benefits.”
