The weather at Sepang has decided to through a wrench into Ducati’s testing plans.
With the Desmosedici GP12 being developed almost from scratch in just over a little more than six months, both Nicky Hayden and Valentino Rossi need to be getting in as many laps as possible to test their bikes to the fullest and try to bridge the large gap that separates them from Yamaha and Honda.
Actually the current gap with Yamaha is more or less the same as during the first Sepang test.
Hayden finished fifth in today’s second day of testing and was not a bad 0.
463s adrift from Ben Spies, and very wisely decided not risk riding on a full wet track after his recent surgery.
“The weather hasn’t been kind to us.
With my condition, maybe I wasn’t going to be able to do many more laps anyway, but we have a lot of stuff to try.
It was definitely cooler today, with more rubber on the track, and we went faster.
We made a couple of small steps and I would say today was the most competitive I’ve been all year.
I like the changes to the electronics, especially at the first touch of the throttle.
We talked about going out in the rain, but the risks seemed to outweigh the rewards.
I look forward to tomorrow.
Hopefully we can put together all the pieces we’ve learned and do some good lap times.
”Valentino Rossi concluded day 2 of testing in 7th and 0.
845s from the top of the timesheet, behind not only his team mate but also behind Hector Barbera.
He decided to skip getting wet as he already did a stint in the rain yesterday.
“Another day practically lost, which is really a shame because for us it’s very important to ride as much as possible, and today’s track conditions were much better than yesterday’s.
Given that we knew rain was predicted for the afternoon, we tried to focus as much work as possible in just the first twenty or so laps this morning.
Using both bikes, we tried the new traction control, some software updates with the wheelie control and other small details that have to do with the seating position.
I had good impressions with all of those, so we put it all into the setup of just one bike and put on a new tyre, only for it to start raining.
Game over.
On the plus side, I had a good feeling with all of the new stuff, so I hope we can work a little longer tomorrow.
”
