Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden ready to return to action with the Ducati GP12

The Ducati Team riders were the stars of the first day of Wrooom 2012 at Madonna di Campiglio, with Nicky Hayden first to “take to the track” and answer questions from the international press in attendance. The American, who is recovering well enough from his injured left scapula that he has already removed his sling, then passed the baton to a pleased Valentino Rossi, who is motivated to get back in the saddle and start winter testing in just over two weeks.

“I’m much better,” confirmed Nicky Hayden, “so I’ve been able to remove the sling right on schedule. Here at Madonna di Campiglio, I’m starting to do a little training on a stationary bicycle under the supervision of the team physiotherapist, with the goal of being ready for the Sepang test (31 January – 2 February) as strong as possible. I can’t wait to ride the GP12, because it will be my first time ever. I wasn’t able to try it in the post-race test at Valencia, and I definitely won’t miss the next chance. I never made any secret that I prefer the new displacement to the 800s, although I think things will be much different than in 2006, beginning with the tyres, and the electronics have also come a long way. We’ll have more power, and we’ll have to find the right balance between controlling it while still taking as much advantage of it as we can. I’ve stayed in contact with Filippo (Preziosi) and the guys in the Ducati Corse department over the winter, and I know they’ve worked really hard. We’ll have a lot of things to try at Sepang. I know it won’t be easy, but I’m also confident that we can start to reduce the gap between now and the first race at Qatar. I believe in Ducati, this project and Filippo, and I want to get back on my Ducati as soon as possible.”

“We’re starting with a different spirit,” Valentino Rossi began with a smile. “When I came to Wrooom, I was still healing from my shoulder operation, and after that, the season didn’t go at all like we’d hoped. For this year, Filippo (Preziosi) designed a different bike, and they’ve made a big effort at Ducati to have it in time for the start of the winter tests. I visited the factory and saw it on a computer, and it’s beautiful. We’re not expecting it to be immediately perfect at Sepang, but rather to understand if we’ve worked in the proper direction. We’re very realistic, and our goal is to reduce the gap to our competition, step by step, working in a logical way, and from there to be able to refine the details in order to be competitive and to try and win. One of the most important things for going fast is to make the tyres work as they’re able to, so together with Filippo, we’ve tried to come up with a bike that will let them perform as well as possible. We’ll see if we’ve managed it. I like working with Ducati. I feel good here because there’s a nice atmosphere and we all have faith.”

Wrooom continues tomorrow with the press conference for Filippo Preziosi, Ducati Corse General Manager, who will go into detail on the bike’s development and the technical program that will allow the Desmosedici GP12 to confront the new MotoGP season as well as possible.

The first official videos are starting to emerge from the official Ducati Wrooom event being held at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort.

The Wrooom event is where Ducati officially launch their MotoGP season with interviews with the riders, the team, as well as showing off their new machinery – however, there is one conspicious absence this year – the GP12.

Ducati have opted not to take the 2012 MotoGP bike with them this year, and will instead roll it out at the first official test at the end of this month.

Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi have both started being quizzed by the press, with most of the attention focusing on Rossi’s expectations for 2012 and beyond. This is the final year of Rossi’s contract with Ducati, and he stated that although he was only focused on starting the season and bringing success to Ducati, he did see himself staying in MotoGP for possibly one more two year contract.

Some choice quotes from Valentino Rossi at the Wrooom Event:

On 2012 title aspirations:
“The championship is difficult because the gap in 2011 was quite big. Our target is to fix problems step by step, and try to come closer to Yamaha and Honda. And from that moment, start to fix all the details, to be competitive for the victory. I do not want to say from the start that I cannot fight for the championship, but I have to be realistic. In the end there was 1.5 seconds we have to recover, and our target is to get close to the others and be able to race with them and fight with them. This is our goal.”

On the 2012 Ducati GP12 bike:
“I think that the first test will be important, and for sure the bike will be different compared to last year. It is impossible to be competitive from the first test, but I think we will have some good information to work with, and be ready for the first race. Last year was a lot worse because from the first test we understood that the season will be very tough and difficult. “After three laps we understood we could not win the first race, but now the situation is better – because I am fit. We know we need time, but we work well together – and it is a dream to try and win the first race. But in reality, we are a bit too far off – but maybe the new bike is a miracle.”

On Honda:
“Honda has really set the bar high, and hopefully we are closer there than we were in Valencia. But sitting up here – talk is cheap. I can say this and that about how we are going to be right there, but until we get there and roll out of the garage. I am confident we will be closer. We have some idea – but there is no need to make any predictions here in January. And even then it doesn’t matter until we get to Qatar. I hope we will be much closer, and it will tell us more where the 1000s are against the 800s. But I believe in Ducati, I believe in this project, Filippo and everyone involved.”

“I think that in 2011, Honda decided they wanted to win and they put on the table an amount of money that others did not have. It came out with a bike that was really incredible, so this technology will go on with 1000cc. But I hope Yamaha will be more competitive and I hope so for us, to have a more balanced championship. That is our desire.”

On his future:
“The scenario is that during the season everything will become interesting, because all riders have their contracts expiring, so cards can be shuffled,”

“Honestly I don’t know. I would like to be able to make Ducati go fast and be able to win something, and then perhaps even stop – to race for a few more years and achieve some good results this is perhaps my goal but there are many other possibilities, but not now. I would like to at least do another contract so would like to sign at least another two-year contract. I think we are going to be speaking about the contract during the season, because we have to organise ourselves for 2013,” he said. “I do not want to do it too soon because when you risk losing concentration on the championship as it is underway, but we will try and plan my future.”

Not really, this picture was tweeted by @Mick_GFX and we’d though we’d share it, as it is a world away from the exclusive 5 star ski-resort that Rossi and the rest of the Ducati team are currently in.

Valentino Rossi pays tribute to Simoncelli with a special helmet design:

The design features Simoncelli’s red and white stripes at the front, with a number 58 on the front. The rear of the helmet is the same design as Rossi’s usual ‘AGV Elemets‘ helmet.

Front end issues struck the factory Ducati team once again today, as Valentino Rossi crashed out of the Australian MotoGP whilst battling for 5th position with Alvaro Bautista on lap 14.

Rossi started the race from the fourth row, but quickly found his rhythm and worked his way up the field to 7th position. As soon as he got Nicky Hayden and Alvaro Bautista in his sights he quickly caught up and joined the fight for 5th position. Rossi eventually passed Bautista to claim 5th, but the success was short-lived as he lost the front and slid out of the race.

Nicky Hayden had a decent enough race, but the American probably could have finished higher if it wasn’t for his decision to come into the pits and change his bike when it began raining four laps from the end. The rain proved to a passing shower and Hayden lost time and positions on the track – that said, many riders who didn’t change their tyres slid out in the wet conditions (including Bautista).

Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden both discuss the Australian MotoGP below:

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) DNF
“The crash was really a shame because I could have finished fifth. After a pretty good start, I lost some ground to Nicky and Bautista, but then I found my rhythm and managed to get them both. Unfortunately, I lost the front when I passed Alvaro, and I’m really disappointed because I didn’t expect it. Evidently, despite all our hard work, we still haven’t solved this problem. Anyway, both in Japan and here, we could have collected some good points, and instead we leave with none. That said, we’re still working, and we’ll have a number of important things to try in the next tests.”

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 7th
“Conditions were really tough today, with wind and rain off-and-on at different parts of the track. My start actually wasn’t amazing, but I think everybody else got away worse than I did. I was in a good position, but I really had no grip at the rear from the very beginning, and although I tried as hard as I could, I couldn’t defend much when guys started coming past. Eventually I blistered the rear tyre and was just trying to make it to the finish, and then when it started to rain harder, it felt really slick. I just about lost it, and when I saw Bautista go down, I decided to come in and change bikes rather than risk doing the same. It’s another seventh place, but I was closer to the front than I’ve been in most races. I felt good apart from a few places, like Turn 6, and the bike was fast. We’ll try to base our future work on those positives.”

Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager)
“Just like at the Japanese Grand Prix, there are also positives to consider here in Australia, despite the fact that it was a challenging weekend. Vale struggled in the practice sessions, but he was fast in this morning’s warm-up. He also found a good rhythm in the race and had climbed as high as fifth place when he fell. Nicky had his best qualifying session of the season, he started the race well and we saw him have some good battles in the early laps. We expected something more here in Australia, but we’re also aware that we’re working on a number of different fronts in these races, gathering information that will be useful in the future.”

Nicky Hayden found himself at the other end of the grid and finished in 6th position – his best qualifying result of the year.

Both Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden discuss Phillip Island qualifying below:

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 6th (1’30.792)
“This was my first time on the second row this year, and for a while today, I thought I could do even better. It’s good, but we’re not celebrating sixth place since we expect a lot when we come to Phillip Island. The main thing for tomorrow will be to figure out how to get the tyres to last over race distance, and I’m having to use some strange lines to miss all the bumps. I lost a bit of time when one front tyre didn’t come in, but other than that, I’ve got no excuses. I had good, clear laps, and I went about as fast as I could. Tomorrow will be my 150th Grand Prix in the premier class, and I’m proud to be here that long and still be on a factory team. With this grid position, it would be nice to get our best dry result tomorrow. It will be very tough because a lot of guys are going quick, but we’ll try.”

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 13th (1’31.980)
“Before we arrived here, we expected to do much better than this, considering that Phillip Island is a track where Ducati and I have always done well. Instead, I again had trouble riding today, and I was very slow. It’s really a shame, and I’m very sorry. Evidently we haven’t managed to solve the problems we’ve had since the first session here. We’ll try to make some small changes in tomorrow’s warm-up, but although we’ll certainly try to do better than this, I’m expecting a very challenging race.”

Both Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden already had a tough benchmark to live up to as they arrived at Phillip Island – for the last 4 years, Casey Stoner has ridden the 800cc Ducati Desmosedici to victory at the track.

Both riders struggled with grip in both practice sessions, but Nicky Hayden at least managed to break into the top 10 for the second pratice session.

Rossi is riding with a fractured finger, an injury that he picked up after his crash in Japan, and the Italian complained that the pain and discomfort was more than he was expecting – he is seeking stronger painkillers for tomorrow’s qualifying session.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 9th (1:31.662)
“As far as weather is concerned, this is probably the nicest day I can remember at Phillip Island in a long time, but we always hope for better results here than what we had today. The track’s definitely got a bit bumpier, which is obviously the same for everybody, so it’s not an excuse. The bike is harsh over the bumps, so in places I have to use a slower line in order to miss them. We tried to do some laps on hard tyres this afternoon, but we need to find more grip, both in order to be faster and to get better tyre life. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’ll do our best tomorrow.”

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 13th (1:32.014)
“Today wasn’t easy, especially since we had hoped to be better immediately, like at Motegi two weeks ago, as this track is normally good for the Ducati. We started with the same setup, with just a small adjustment to the fork spring, but the feeling wasn’t the same. I wasn’t able to ride well today, in part due to the pain in my left pinky finger, which bothered me more than I expected, but especially because of the feeling with the bike. I’m not able to brake well or enter corners well. Tomorrow we’ll try stronger painkillers for my hand, and from a technical point of view, we’ll look for a different solution to improve the front and to do better than thirteenth place. We won’t change the setup completely. We’ll probably move the position of the front wheel, but we’re just talking about small changes.”

Despite a positive weekend of improvement on the Ducati during Free Practice and Qualifying, Valentino Rossi’s weekend ended early and without points when he crashed out of the race on the second corner of the first lap.

Rossi made contact with Jorge Lorenzo going into turn 2, and was then nudged into Ben Spies. The contact with Spies caused Rossi’s brake lever to get knocked and the crash followed.

Both Rossi and Hayden discuss the Japanese MotoGP at Motegi below:

Nicky Hayden:
“Our bike was pretty good this weekend. Even though I was only eighth fastest this morning, I was pretty consistent, and this weekend is really the first time I’ve been kind of competitive here. On the start, everybody flinched, and I almost got baited into jumping. Then I got touched by Vale on the exit of Turn 1 and went off the track and lost a lot of time. We were all racing, and it was normal for the first lap. I got into a pretty good rhythm, and when Casey came past me, I wanted to try to follow him past Bautista, but I came in way too hot and went off the track. It’s a shame, because with everybody making mistakes, I had a chance to get us a good result. It was my mistake, and I’m sorry to Ducati and everybody, because they worked so hard. Phillip Island is a track I like, so hopefully there we can do a decent race there.”

Valentino Rossi:
“It’s really a shame to be out of the race after two corners, especially after the progress that we made this weekend, and with the knowledge that we’d worked on the bike well. I was fourth in the morning warm-up, and it would have been possible to have a pace in the high 1:46 range. I also think our choice of tyres for the race—hard on the back and soft on the front—was correct. When you also consider the troubles that Stoner, Simoncelli and Dovizioso had, we could have fought for the podium, which would have been really nice for us. We were a little unlucky. Unfortunately, Lorenzo went onto the grass slightly in Turn 1, and in the next turn he moved suddenly to get his trajectory right. He didn’t see me because I was slightly behind. When he touched me, it pushed me into Spies, who touched my front brake lever. It was normal racing contact, but I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyway, we did a good job this weekend, and we were more competitive than usual. It’s a challenging time for us, but we hope we’re on the right path.”

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