Marlboro Spanish Grand Prix, Jerez
DUCATI MARLBORO MEN FOCUS ON NEW ENGINE-BRAKING SYSTEM
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa
used today's opening two practice sessions for Sunday's Marlboro
Spanish GP to continue development work on Ducati's innovative
new engine-braking system. After initial tests last month,
both riders had both their bikes fitted with the new unit
for the first time, illustrating the factory's confidence
in this new technology. The new system is designed to optimise
braking stability by reducing excessive engine-braking forces,
and has the added advantage of slightly reducing fuel consumption.
"We are using the new system because we know that the
best place to really stress new parts is at a race,"
said Ducati Corse director Filippo Preziosi. "During
testing you can ride many laps without problems, but it is
under pressure in a race situation that you find new limits,
which gives us better information to improve. Today is the
first time that we have focused 100 per cent on the new system.
After just two hours of track time we're very happy with progress.
We have already matched our best time on race tyre from our
November tests here and we're not so far from the front guys.
It's encouraging but we still don't know how long it will
take us to find all the benefits of new system, but we are
working towards that."
CAPIROSSI NINTH ON DAY ONE
Loris Capirossi ended the first day of the 2005 MotoGP season
in ninth spot. The Ducati Marlboro Team man spent much of
both sessions working on the new clutch system, which has
undergone minor improvements since the team tested here two
weeks ago.
"I'm still getting used to the system - it feels very
different to ride with, like you've switched off the engine
when you brake," said the Italian. "But it already
has its good points and I believe it will give us a real advantage
by improving stability during heavy braking, that's why we're
sticking with it. At the moment the new system isn't quite
as the same level of the standard system but it gets better
every session. We had some trouble this morning but made a
big improvement this afternoon."
CHECA'S SHOULDER IS 80 PER CENT
Carlos Checa slid off during this afternoon's practice session,
thankfully not aggravating the shoulder injury he sustained
when he tumbled at Catalunya last month. The Spaniard is having
to play catch up here because he missed last month's group
Jerez tests, following that fall at Catalunya.
"It wasn't a big crash," said the Ducati Marlboro
Team rider, so far 16th fastest. "I went down at the
hairpin at the end of the back straight, just before the gravel
trap. My shoulder is probably about 80 per cent at the moment,
but I thought it might be even worse before I got here. I
have a lot to do here because I missed the tests - I'm getting
my feeling back after a few weeks off, as well as working
on set-up and the new clutch. I've had better days but I'm
confident we will improve tomorrow."
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