DUCATI TEAM:

The second of the two post race tests of the 2009 season was spoiled by a strong downpour that started during the lunch break after a sunny and hot morning at Brno today. The track remained damp until approximately an hour before the end of the session, which was extended by 15 minutes to allow the riders to complete some extra laps.

Both Nicky Hayden and Mika Kallio worked on the settings of their GP9s and found some promising solutions in the final phase of the session. The next appointment for the Ducati Marlboro Team is round 12 of the championship at the legendary Indianapolis circuit on August 30th.

Good debut for Mattia Pasini on the Pramac Racing Desmosedici GP9 Sat on the Brno circuit in Czech Republic. The day of testing, started around 9am and concluded at 6pm, has been interrupted by heavy rain for a couple of hours around lunch time, but the Italian rider has made it to registered interesting lap times for a MotoGP debutant. Mattia has showed all his enthusiasm today riding for 66 laps today. Niccolò Canepa has sensibly improved his lap times from yesterday’s race and will try to confirm at Indianapolis in two weeks time in the twelfth MotoGP 2009 round.

Paolo Campinoti – Pramac Racing Team Principal

“A pity that rain has limited the time ad Mattia disposal otherwise I am convinced that he could have sensibly improved his fastest lap time of the day. Anyway we are satisfied on how things went, as we are not so fat from the other riders with much more experience in this category. We all know how hard it is to jump on a MotoGP bike and get used to it. Sincere compliments to Pasini: he is a guy who never gives up, tenacious and he deserved this opportunity even if we are sorry that he will not be able to ride with us in the next couple of races.”

Niccolò Canepa – Best lap time in 1’58.120

“In these four days at Brno the only day that didn’t go well was the race day. Today things were back to normal and I was riding on good lap times really close to much more experienced riders than me. It’s a pity because if I would have maintained this rhythm also yesterday I could have fought for much better positions. Now we have some days of relaxation for be back in full shape at Indianapolis, a track that I like really much.”

Mattia Pasini – Best lap time in 1’59.614

“First of all I have to thanks Pramac and his Team Principal Paolo Campinoti, Ducati and all the people that allowed me to compete with the best riders in the world today. Thanks so much ! It has been a sensational feeling to go so fast. I pass from going 255 km/h on my 250cc yesterday, to the over 300 km/h (305 km/h) of today on the Ducati Pramac Racing bike. During the morning I had to adjust to the bike, but from the afternoon, after the heavy rain that has unluckily limited our learning procedure, I felt at ease and I could push much more. It is a really spectacular bike to ride with an incredible power. It doesn’t seem so complicated to ride like I heard; on the contrary, it is really comfortable. The biggest different I found compare to my actual bike are the carbon brakes which have a totally different reaction compared to mine. Overall I am very satisfied on how things went today. Now I will have to concentrate to my 250cc championship as I still have the possibility to aim for the title.”