The marriage of Valentino Rossi and Ducati has been a dream come true for Italian fans. Follow this link to a video showing Rossi entering the Ducati paddock and throwing his leg over the 2011 Desmosedici for the first time, followed by his first laps.
Jeremy Burgess is in the pits with him, as expected. Rossi took it easy today, finishing with the tenth quickest lap as the Valencia tests opened. Casey Stoner, on the other hand, was immediately very fast on his new Honda (finishing with the second quickest lap, as Lorenzo was quickest), likely sending a chill up the spine of his competitors.
I love Duc’s. But what is the deal with the MotoGP teams and noise? That bike sounds like a rat trap Katana 600 with a hacked up D+D pipe with no packing. An old Monster 900 with a “PROPER” exhaust sounds way better>
The carbon frame may not be the issue at all. Ducati is known to have one of the best FEA systems in MotoGP and avail themselves to Ferrari’s F1 department as well. I’m sure they have accurately modeled their frame.
I think the problem is more fundamental. The Ducati is the only 90deg. V engine in MotoGP, and has to be placed further to the rear in the chassis for the front tire to clear the front cylinders, this architecture most likely does not put enough weight on the front tire. Their Superbikes have the same issues. I think the solution is to rotate the motor back so that the V is more vertical and move the engine forward. This requires a major redesign of the bike, including the engine case for a revised swingarm pivot location, I’m not sure if they will have the time to do this before the second test in February or not.
What’s the big deal again. An Italian riding and italian bike. And this means what?
Really? Since the obvious has eluded you, lets put it another way. Imagine Ben Spies riding competitively and challenging Stoner/Rossi/Pedrosa. On a Harley.
And after day 2 of testing Stoner is fastest and Rossi 15th. What does it all mean? Stoner is fast, and MotoGP 2011 will be very interesting.
The Ducati chassis hasn’t been all that good for the last couple of years. Stoner’s 2009 problems were rumored to be fear of riding that particular bike.
Rossi is certainly capable of taming the Ducati, but the problem is there are 2 or 3 other guys on the grid who are of nearly equal talent, and who are riding better behaved bikes (Lorenzo, Stoner and possibly even Spies.) Unless Val and his crew chief can help Ducati sort out the kinks, I don’t see them challenging Lorenzo and Stoner in 2011. Hope I’m wrong. I would love nothing more than to see Rossi put the young guns back in thier place, especially Lorenzo. But let’s face it, Lorenzo is special. He’s the first guy who seems to be immune to Rossi getting in his head.
So lets see … Rossi’s got his favorite crew chief, his favorite team mate who clearly knows his role, a ton of money, and a company out to show they did the right thing by letting him go. He may no longer be the fastest, but he still has the ability to get into people’s heads (though not as much as previous). While I have my doubts he’ll do it in the first year, I think Vale can still win one more on the Duck. First predictions? They’ll dump the c-f frame and go back to aluminum like everyone else, and Vale will add a muffler to the engine just like he did on the Honda and Yamaha
+1 on the dumping of the c/f. i think what sounded good on paper…? and maybe works for F1…? doesn’t translate to 2 wheels. at least not at the motogp level. at least not corse’s 2010 design. we’re generally quick to point fingers at the riders, but the amount of low sides (clearly excessive this year) experienced by both factory bikes AND the satellite bikes, to me, points to a flaw in the chassis. every round where grip was questionable right from FP1 (q’tar, lemans, indy, estoril, etc.) predictably translated into a crash for stoner and his aggressive riding style during the race. 🙁 shy of luck intervening, pushing all but gauranteed a DNF. nicky even confirmed as much with his massive “yard sale” at the finale. c/f’s too stiff.
Actually Carbon Fiber (or Carbon Graphite) is less stiff then Aluminum Alloy.
Carbon Fiber Flexes More then Aluminum Alloy, and is also more prone to stress fractures. c/f is also more expensive. The only benefit to using c/f in the frame is to put it specifically where you want a little bit more flex in the chasis. Thats what Ducati did with the DesmoRR, the only problem is that you sacrifice some structual integrity at that point of the chasis where they chose to put the C/F. C/F is good only for short term use in chasis and structurally intergral parts. I prefer stiffer Aluminum, or even better good ole 100% steel trellis. This is one place where no one should really be trying to re-invent the wheel. We know it works best and doesnlt look like anything else will function better for this kind of application.
Carbon Fiber has significantly better fatigue lift, strength to weight ratios and stiffness to weight ratios than steel, titanium, or aluminum.
Period.
Look it up – these aren’t ‘maybes’ – they’re facts.
In layman’s terms – it’s stronger, lighter and lasts longer than anything else. Also, the resins typically used to bond the fibers offer extremely good vibration damping.
Add to that the fact that you can almost infinitely ‘tune’ carbon fiber to be compliant (or not) in specific directions and degrees and you have effectively the Holy Grail of materials. In tubing terminology, you can use the butting process to tune, but at a MUCH more granular level.
The achilles heal is that when you score (scratch) it – you’ve compromised the matrix and the whole structure becomes suspect. It’s also terribly expensive to produce.
It’s not an accident that it’s used in F1 and now has become present in MotoGP frames with Ducati. It’s an ideal material, but with all that variability comes the need for understanding. Ducati had zero frame of reference in motorcycles. They started from scratch, almost literally.
Carbon Fiber is not the problem. Proper implementation of it is.
Enter Rossi.
In addition to being the greatest motorcycle racer the world has ever seen, Rossi has got to be the best development rider ever. The Honda was already good when he got it – he made it invincible. He took the M1 Yamaha and transformed it into a title winner in one season.
He also made these bikes so that just about anyone could be fast on them. Hayden. Lorenzo…..titles won on bikes Rossi had his hands ALL over.
Anyone care to bet against the guy with Ducati? After his shenanigans with Lorenzo at Motegi?
An Italian on an Italian, with his sidekick crew chief and a burning desire to destroy the competition.
If I were on the MotoGP grid, no matter who I was, I’d be very nervous.
nail on the head. carbon fiber is not the problem, it’s proper implementation… and time for proper implementation is not a luxury they enjoy under the limited “cost conscious” testing rules. 🙁 so the question isn’t whether or not they’ll get it right…? the question is how many titles will they cost rossi when they are conducting R&D in-season while everybody else is out “racing”…? since 90% of the bike has been c/f since it’s introduction, ducati has to stop and seriously ask themselves if saving a measly 5 lbs in that friggin’ front subframe is worth all the negative attention of having VR46 spend 2011 parading around mid-pack…? if the past 2 days is any indicator, the press and (fair weather fans) are going to eat ’em alive. they’ve cleared out the big money salaries of suppo, tardozzi, locke, and canceled xmas on the wsbk effort to pay for all this (pissing off alot of people in the process), it’s results march 20th or condemnation.
Awesome (but too short) video. The GP10 sounds incredible! I’d love to see Rossi take one championship with Ducati – it just seems right. It will be interesting to see if he can tame that beast! I agree with the previous post – I think Stoner will do amazing things with the Honda, but I think Spies will do great things on the M1, and Rossi, and Lorenzo, and Dani, and… oh wait, I guess they are ALL on fire! Yeah, it’s going to be an amazing season!
Well, all things being equal, I think it’s pretty clear that both Lorenzo and Stoner are faster riders at this stage of Rossi’s career. That said, this is about man and machine not just the rider. If I were a betting man (and I am), I would not undervalue the motivation of Rossi and Ducati to bring this championship home at any cost.
MAybe not the 1st year but watch out!!! The doctor will be back!!
I’m hoping we don’t have to wait for a second year. Most other moves are after negotions go bad. We finally get to see riders have the whole off season to test and develop. Stoners gonna be tough. Either he’s not a good developer/rider, or Ducati didn’t listen as well as they will Rossi/Burgess.
how soon before those forward canards get tied into the gyro and become active control surfaces for pitch and trim…? good to see ducati pushing the design envelope. though, i’m not sure if their ever growing size is inspired by F1…? or by BMW’s boxer engine…? LOL maybe it’s both…? 🙂
Love the motor’s sound: wicked!
…are those front wings?!?!?! I thought I had seen it all.
depending on the round, they’ve been used off and on from about the mid-point of the 2010 season, but they were defenitely smaller and less noticeable. i even believe some of bazza’s suzukis from the late 70’s featured winglets.
http://motomatters.com/opinion/2010/08/02/those_ducati_winglets_what_are_they_real.html
Speculates wings’ function is cooling.
I predict Rossi will not crack the top three next year. Stoner is the only one who can ride the nuclear Duc. The champ next year will be Stoner, followed by Lorenzo then Pedrosa.
A few years ago Rossi and Burgess turned the worst bike in the paddock into a multi-championship-winning package on which many riders could go fast. Is there any question that they’ll be able to again translate a race-winning machine into a, uh, more race-winning package? I doubt it.
So when exactly did Rossi race and win on either the Kawasaki or Suzuki? Let alone win championships with either bike…
Actually… the worst bike was in fact the Aprilia, followed by the Kawi and Suzuki then probably the KR, THEN the Yamaha. That would in actuality make the Yamaha the second best bike on the grid, NOT the worst. Sorry, but your revisionist history wont be allowed.
Would love to see that unrideable Triple WILD Stallion(Aprilia CUBE) take a spot again on the GP Grid ridden by some talent and put back some scare into the other Manufacturers…after almost all the illnesses have been sorted out that is. lol.
hi nathan: the ducati was probably better than the yamaha in 2003 so that makes the yamaha 3rd best. Or at least one of the worst. Thank you.
Not sure I’d consider the 3rd bike in line “one of the worst” when there were 7 bikes in the field, that’s just me though. I just did a looksie and found that the Aprilias were in fact better than the Kawi and Suzuki and KR at years end. Shocker!
You’re right, I took a few liberties with the truth about which was precisely the worst bike in the paddock. I don’t know enough history to revise it, just screw it up a little. However, the best Yamaha in 2003 was 7th (and without looking at the results, it seems I recall pretty severe inconsistencies). Even Furusawa was worried, knew he had a bit of a lump on his hands. Indeed Suzuki had won a title since Yamaha’s last, way back in 1992. So I’ll agree to put the green bike and the Cube astern of the Yamaha.
That said, I’m more excited about next year’s MotoGP series than I’ve been in a long time. New seasons are always fun, but this one may shape up into a real barn burner. As folks above have said, we probably have more riders, at or near their peak, on more competitive machinery than we’ve had in awhile.
goosebumps and a semi.
Lorenzo who?
the upcomming season should be sweet!