For a bike still very early in the development stages, the Ducati MotoGP machine showed exceptional speed during testing at Jerez today — under less than ideal conditions. Following an evening of rain, on a still drying track, Loris Capirossi posted a best lap time of 1:44.4 at Jerez, while teammate Troy Bayliss threw down a 1:45.4. When you consider that Valentino Rossi’s lap record is roughly 1:42.1, and Colin Edwards, aboard the Aprilia Cube, who was also testing at Jerez today, was nearly a full second slower than Capirossi at 1:45.1, the Ducati MotoGP machine looks impressive.
It should be noted that all three riders fielded by Ducati (Bayliss, Capirossi and a test rider) were riding the “four-pulse” version of the machine, rather than the “twin-pulse” version originally touted by Ducati. As we mentioned in an earlier MD article, Ducati engineer Andrea Forni predicted that the four-pulse version of the machine would ultimately be the version raced by the MotoGP team.
Ducati will continue testing at Jerez tomorrow.