The day after the GP di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini found all of the MotoGP teams taking part in a busy test at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.
Ducati Team riders Andrea Dovizioso and Nicky Hayden were on hand with the Desmosedici GP13 machines that they used in the last few races, while Michele Pirro was back in his test-rider role with the Ducati Test Team after having taken part in the last three races with Team Pramac Racing as a substitute rider for Ben Spies.
Following the rain that fell overnight, the two Ducati Team riders got on track at approximately 1 p.m. and finished riding at 6 p.m. The bulk of the work was focused on electronic and software strategies, different settings and on testing larger brake discs, the latter with an eye toward the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi on 27 October. They also tried a new hard tyre for Bridgestone, the championship’s sole tyre supplier. Pirro, meanwhile, tested some parts for next year’s engine.
Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) 8th, 1:34.118 (53 laps)
“Today’s test was interesting because you can always work on small details after a race, as you have all the parameters from the weekend. We didn’t try any new parts, but we did some small tests with the balance that helped us to understand some things. We tried the bigger brakes, which we might use in Japan, and they work very well. There was also a new tyre that Bridgestone brought; it could let us also use the hard option during the weekends, as we normally just use the soft. The conditions today were good and we dropped our fast lap time a bit, so we hope that these small improvements will help us at Aragon.”
Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 9th, 1:34.252 (72 laps)
“We got a late start because of the weather, but then we just worked through the day and pretty much tested everything we wanted to try. We didn’t have anything too major, just some different setup options that we may want to use at some races later in the year. On a positive note, we tried the new hard Bridgestone tyre, which seemed to work pretty well and should definitely be good for some tracks later in the season if it’s available. We also tested brakes for Motegi. In general, we didn’t find any big breakthroughs, but we got some good information.”
