Ducati MotoGP Testing Session
POSITIVE END TO THE THREE-DAY TEST SESSION WITH SETE GIBERNAU
AT MUGELLO
The three-day test session at the Tuscan track of Mugello
has concluded in a positive fashion for Sete Gibernau. The
Spanish rider has clocked up a great deal of kilometres on
track (around 800kms in total) first with the GP9, then with
the GP8, finishing with a final exit on the GP9 for a back
to back comparison.
In this, only his second test session after nearly two years
away from the tracks, Gibernau has proved that he still has
the speed and is also more than competent in providing the
Ducati Corse engineers with useful feedback for the development
of the Desmosedici.
Gibernau made many exits of 4 or 5 laps each and demonstrated
a high level of physical fitness, in view of the difficult
climatic conditions, with air temperatures of over 30°C
and track temperatures exceeding 50°C. Despite this, the
Spanish rider kept up an excellent pace, lapping consistently
in a low 1m51.
Worth a mention too is his fastest lap, made on a race tyre
(Sete didn't test qualifiers), of 1'M50.5 on board the GP8,
just a few tenths off this year's race record (belonging to
Casey Stoner).
"I want to thank not only Ducati but also all the guys
that have supported me here", declared Sete Gibernau.
"Some of them worked with me in 2006 and it was great
to find ourselves together again. I've really enjoyed myself
today and have had a completely new experience as a rider.
The faster you go, the more obvious it becomes that this bike
demands a real physical and mental effort, but when you manage
to ride it well, the satisfaction is unique. I hope my work
has been of use to Filippo, to help understand the differences
between the GP8 and GP9. They are two machines with characteristics
typical of Ducati, and the GP9, although new, has great potential."
First of all I want to compliment Sete and thank him for the
great job he has done here this week, stated Filippo Preziosi.
"It is always a pleasure to work with an experienced
rider like Sete and his feedback will undoubtedly help us.
His comments are very similar to those made by Casey and Vittoriano
and this confirms that we're proceeding in the right direction.
We will evaluate with him whether there can be other opportunities
for him to work with us on track with our bikes. He has certainly
demonstrated that he's still able to ride very fast. A special
thanks also to the MotoGP team (present at the track were
engineer Cristhian Pupulin and chief mechanic Davide Manfredi
who work with Melandri, electronics engineer Gabriele Conti
and mechanics Roberto Clerici, Andrea Brunetti and Giorgio
Casturà from Stoner's team, and Yoshio Shinke from
the Development team) who have, as ever, shown willing by
adding these three days of testing to their very busy race
calendar. I hope that this result will also spur on Marco
and Toni. In the last months we have worked hard to improve
the GP8 but I think I can now say that it is a good level
and we hope that they too can get the most out of the machine
in the coming races
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