Rossi: Aragon expectations 'higher than usual'

Valentino Rossi is raising his prospect 'a little higher than usual' as he heads for Ducati's best event of the 2010 season, at Aragon.

Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden finished one-three in Moto GP's first ever race at the imposing Spanish circuit last year, when Rossi finished sixth for Yamaha.

Rossi returns sixth in the 2011 championship, with just one stage, from his 13 races on the Desmosedici.

“Last year at Aragon was the best race of the year for Ducati, so we move toward this round with our expectations a little higher than usual," said Rossi.

"In addition, after the difficult practice sessions at Misano, we establish a good setup in the end and I had a better feeling with the bike and managed to ride it better in the race, particularly in the early laps.

"Now we'll try to unite the two things - the track that seems to work well with the Desmosedici and the good setup work - in order to find the same feeling on Sunday.”

Team manager Vittoriano Guareschi doesn't wait for any major breakthrough this weekend, and again emphasised that Ducati is working for the future.

“We have some great memories of Aragon from last year, so we're happy to return. Every season has its own story though, and we're currently working not only for this weekend but also beyond," he said.

"Our riders and team are completely listening carefully on the goal, and they're giving us a collaborative working group that I think is tremendously important. At Aragon, we expect to continue gathering data and in sequence on the Desmosedici and to speed up the setup work during the practice sessions.”

Rossi on track at Silverstone

Valentino Rossi made the most of his visit at Silverstone on Tuesday by carrying out a couple of stints with a Ducati 1198 bike.

Valentino Rossi connected other great motorsports champions from the past and present in an inauguration ceremony for a new, ultramodern paddock structure at England’s Silverstone Circuit. The Silverstone Wing, as the British venue’s huge new facility is called, comprises spacious garages, a media center, offices, and an auditorium, and it will host the seventh round of the MotoGP world championship on June 12.

Rossi, who missed the track’s 2010 surrounding due to injury, used the occasion to turn some introductory laps with a World Superbike 1198 and, while that bike was in the garage for a check of its electronics, with a normal 1198 street bike, complete with license plate and mirrors. The Italian really enjoyed his track time—about thirty laps in all—as a way to get to know the circuit.

“I really had fun,” said Valentino Rossi before exit for Italy. “After a few laps with the 1198 Superbike, we had a problem with the electronics and decided to use the 1198 street bike that Ducati’s UK associate rushed to us. I really liked riding that bike here. The track is nice—difficult and very technical. It makes you work hard because there are very fast sections where having the right trajectory is important, and others that are very narrow where you have to have good grip under acceleration. The first turn is totally blind, and you must hold a very precise line, and in general the whole first section is really great, definitely the part I like most. In short, I enjoyed it, particularly because there were many drivers and riders who have great histories in motorsports, like John Surtees, who told me that he raced here in the ’50s. I wasn’t following racing then,” joked the Italian, “but he was great.”

Rossi and Hayden leave Portugal satisfied with GP11

A long, intense day of testing following the bwin Grande Prémio de Portugal allowed Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden to try various updates that were prepared by Ducati’s racing department.

The two Ducati Team riders concentrated mainly on finding a set-up with updates that were made to the frame, which both of them pronounced promising when the test was concluded.

After several runs spent finding a base set-up, Valentino Rossi consistently lapped in the 1’37” range. Nicky Hayden also liked the new chassis, and by the end of the day, he had dropped his time under 1’38”.

Valentino Rossi – 1’37.382 (82 laps)

“It was a positive test because the new updates were immediately better. The bike was more sensitive to changes made to the front, which makes it easier to work on a set-up that works better for me. I realised that as soon as I got on the bike and then, over the course of the following hours, we constantly progressed. We also had an engine with a slightly smoother power delivery that I liked a lot. We’ll start using it when the rotation plan allows it. I liked the tyres that Bridgestone had us try, they seemed very good. Of course the other riders also made great progress, and the least positive thing about today is the gap to the front on my best lap. Anyway, everything that the Ducati technicians brought worked, and that means that we’re on the right path. We have to continue working, but today’s test gives us confidence.”

Nicky Hayden – 1’37.463 (89 laps)

“We were lucky to get a really good day with the weather. We improved, because I consistently went a lot faster than in qualifying, but it looked like everybody else improved too. I did my best time on the 2012 tyres, so Bridgestone made a nice step there. I got on the updated chassis after lunch, and it had a better feel over some of the bumps, and still good stability under braking. The updated engine made the bike a little smoother, and I liked it overall.”

Rossi: We are quite worried

Valentino Rossi couldn't hide his dissatisfaction at concluding the second Sepang MotoGP test in eleventh place, almost two-seconds from the top.

After feeling 'quite confident' following Tuesday's opening day, when he was ninth (on hard tyres) and one-second from the front, Rossi was then forced to miss the whole second day due to fever.

The seven time MotoGP world champion returned today eager to try and make up for lost time - and rode for 59 laps in the very tiring Malaysian heat. But there was to be small reward.

Rossi struggled with cornering and lost a further 0.8sec relative to fastest man Casey Stoner. There are now just two more days of difficult, at Qatar, before his first race as a Ducati rider.

“The first day was not so bad, because I was previously on the lap time of the first test [earlier this month] and we were one-second from the top,” said Rossi.

“We were quite certain for day two because we had a lot of things to try, like a dissimilar setting for the rear, some swingarm link, different suspension.

“I was quite hopeful to improve our lap time, then unluckily yesterday I could not ride so we lost one day and that made things more difficult.

“Anyway today I felt okay. I made nearly 60 laps and worked a lot on the bike, but unluckily we didn't fix our problem.

“We are not fast enough in the corners. We have a problem for rotating the bike, so I always have to slow down too much to make the first-class line. I cannot ride the Desmosedici in the right way.