BAD WEATHER RUINS DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM TESTING SCHEDULE
ON FINAL DAY AT SEPANG
A damp track in the morning and rain in the afternoon ruined
today's testing schedule for the Borgo Panigale team, which
however concluded its winter tests outside Europe with a positive
balance and with the Desmosedici GP6 already on the pace and
well-sorted.
Sepang (Malaysia), Thursday 16 February 2006 - Once again
bad weather conditioned today's final day of testing for the
Ducati Marlboro Team as it continues with the development
programme for the new GP6 in view of the start of the MotoGP
World Championship.
A damp surface in the morning kept everyone in the pit garages
until 12 o'clock, when the riders went out on a relatively
slow track. At about 2 o'clock another shower brought proceedings
to a halt until 4 in the afternoon. A further twenty minutes
of track time were available before thunder and lightning
and a heavy downpour brought an end to the test.
As a result, both Loris Capirossi and Sete Gibernau were
unable to conclude the scheduled programme and complete their
long-run with the new Bridgestone tyres.
The test session was particularly unfortunate for Spanish
rider Gibernau, who had been sidelined on day 1 by a gearbox
problem, and then on day 2 with a stomach complaint.
Things went better for his team-mate Capirossi, who was able
to get through a lot of work with his Desmosedici GP6. Loris
is clearly satisfied with the bike that he will race this
season and is confident he can count on tyres that will be
at the same competitive level as his GP6.
Loris CAPIROSSI (29 laps - 2m01.92s)
"It was a real shame that today we were unable to do
the scheduled long-run. In the morning we found a rear tyre
to do the run with, but the rain ruined our plans. During
twenty minutes of dry time in the afternoon, I did a 2m01.9s
in the three laps available so I'm happy with that. The bike
is performing well and the tyres are improving all the time.
We'll see how it goes at the IRTA tests in Barcelona and .
keep our fingers crossed".
Sete GIBERNAU (33 laps - 2m02.65s)
"These last three days have been pretty unlucky for me:
on Tuesday my bike had gearbox problems, yesterday I didn't
feel well and today I was still a bit ill and the storms played
their part as well. After just a few laps I was really tired
and it was tough in this heat. In any case we have seen that
that the path we started to follow during the test in Phillip
Island is the right one and I'm satisfied with it. We're preparing
a good base for the start of the championship: we've still
got a lot of work to do and all the problems in this last
test session have not given us a hand for sure".
With testing concluded at the Malaysian circuit, the Ducati
Marlboro Team will now return home to prepare for the IRTA
tests from 3-5 March at Barcelona, the traditional pre-season
MotoGP appointment.
Temperatures: air 33°C / track max. 48°C
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