American 2006 MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden has had his first taste of the 2012 model Ducati Desmosedici, joining Valentino Rossi at Jerez last week.
The final day of testing at Jerez didn’t get started until 1:00pm due to unfavorable weather conditions that greeted the Ducati Marlboro Team on its arrival at the circuit.
Once dry, Hayden was therefore able to try the GP12, just as his teammate had done on Friday and he quickly made up for lost time, lapping almost continuously until completing 61 laps.
“When I woke up this morning, the sky was really gray and the track was completely wet,” said Hayden. “I was pretty disappointed. I didn’t think we’d be able to do anything because it wouldn’t have made sense to waste a day testing in those conditions.
“The situation got better and better though, and after lunch, I was able to put on my leathers. I couldn’t wait to ride, and it was worth the wait. It’s an honor to be able to participate in the first track test of the GP12
“It doesn’t happen very often that you get to ride a bike on the track for the first time – it’s a special feeling. Everything went well, and we didn’t have a single problem: the motor is really nice to use, and I had a lot of fun riding the bike.
“I hope I gave some useful feedback to Filippo and the boys. I know they’ll be working on this bike while we go back to focusing on the next race, because this season just started.”
Ducati Corse boss Filippo Preziosi is pleased with the progress made during the test.
“First of all, I’d like to thank everyone at Ducati,” said Preziosi. “Because thanks to their hard work and expertise, it was possible to carry out three days of trouble-free testing and complete nearly a thousand kilometers with the GP12 in its track debut.
“Having received consistent feedback about the bike from four different riders puts us in a position to efficiently continue the development process, because we can prioritize the work we have left to carry out.”