Photo: motogp.com capture
It’s the final day of the last pre-season official test ahead of the 2015 MotoGP championship debut in Qatar, and the teams are hoping to find the ideal setups for both the new bikes and the kick-off round. With the first race of the year drawing nearer, the MotoGP grid has been set ablaze by the incredible pace of the two factory Ducati who have so far dominated the proceedings in a rather authoritative manner.
Day 1 saw Iannone leading the time sheets, followed by his team mate Dovizioso leading from Marc Marquez, with Suzuki’s Aleix Espargaro in the 4th position, and Dani Pedrosa completing the top five. On the second day it was time for Desmo Dovi to climb to the fist position in the time sheets and be the only rider to drop below the 1:55 bar and below Casey Stoner’s 2008 circuit record.
Marquez managed to climb to the second position, with a 0.184s gap from Dovizioso and only 0.013s ahead of Iannone. Lorenzo was 4th at the end of Day 2, 0.593s off the leader’s pace, closely followed by Rossi and Pedrosa. Needless to say, such a time sheet layout is a thing we haven’t seen in quite a long time and this might be a hint for a very interesting 2015 season in premiere class.
The first one, as Ducati officials said, is represented by the sporting rules themselves. If the FIM rules allow Ducati to use the softer tire, some extra fuel and so on if the team chooses to, Ducati is only obeying the rules. Not taking advantage of certain privileges is also a matter of choice, but it’s Ducati’s call and not someone else’s.
On the other hand, it looks like the white stripe is nowhere to be found in the Losail photos which surfaced recently. This means that both Dovizioso and Iannone have been riding with the same medium tire Yamaha and Honda used… and this is the real reason of the stir.
The Desmosedici GP15 being that fast on medium tires opens up other possibilities, of which using the softer rubber to secure as many poles as possible through the season is only one. Of course, if Ducati’s game produces successful results in the dry, the softer tire would no longer be available to the team, but so far it looks like Borgo Panigale doesn’t need that tire so much.
Ducati has once more added some winglets to the sides of their bikes, apparently adding some downforce to help the riders gain more traction. Gigi Dall' Igna says they're experimental only, but we would not be that surprised to see Ducati experimenting with them in a race.
If Ducati goes race-sim today and still smokes, then we’re in for quite a blasting season start, and even more, especially if Cal Crutchlow’s best Open class lap time proves that the Manx rider has finally gotten past his initial problems aboard the CWM LCR Honda. Stay tuned.
Marquez managed to climb to the second position, with a 0.184s gap from Dovizioso and only 0.013s ahead of Iannone. Lorenzo was 4th at the end of Day 2, 0.593s off the leader’s pace, closely followed by Rossi and Pedrosa. Needless to say, such a time sheet layout is a thing we haven’t seen in quite a long time and this might be a hint for a very interesting 2015 season in premiere class.
Everyone complains about Ducati suing the softer tire to get ahead, but the white stripe is nowhere to be seen
Some riders have been quite vocal seeing Ducati becoming better and better and claim that the performance advantage offered by the Open class privilege of using the softer tire in introducing a “not-that-fair-play” feeling. While this is arguably a true statement, there are two things to oppose such a claim.The first one, as Ducati officials said, is represented by the sporting rules themselves. If the FIM rules allow Ducati to use the softer tire, some extra fuel and so on if the team chooses to, Ducati is only obeying the rules. Not taking advantage of certain privileges is also a matter of choice, but it’s Ducati’s call and not someone else’s.
On the other hand, it looks like the white stripe is nowhere to be found in the Losail photos which surfaced recently. This means that both Dovizioso and Iannone have been riding with the same medium tire Yamaha and Honda used… and this is the real reason of the stir.
The Desmosedici GP15 being that fast on medium tires opens up other possibilities, of which using the softer rubber to secure as many poles as possible through the season is only one. Of course, if Ducati’s game produces successful results in the dry, the softer tire would no longer be available to the team, but so far it looks like Borgo Panigale doesn’t need that tire so much.
Winglets are back!
Today’s test and race simulation will provide the final answer for many of the questions which rose during the past two days. It is expected that the factory Ducati attempt some race simulations today, and we might get to see whether the results are consistent for prolonged periods of time or for short bursts.Ducati has once more added some winglets to the sides of their bikes, apparently adding some downforce to help the riders gain more traction. Gigi Dall' Igna says they're experimental only, but we would not be that surprised to see Ducati experimenting with them in a race.
If Ducati goes race-sim today and still smokes, then we’re in for quite a blasting season start, and even more, especially if Cal Crutchlow’s best Open class lap time proves that the Manx rider has finally gotten past his initial problems aboard the CWM LCR Honda. Stay tuned.
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