Rossi participated in another...
Rossi participated in another test on the 2012 Ducati GP12 at Jerez with a newer aluminum frame said to be a twin-spar-style design. Lap time were reportedly very competitive.
Valentino Rossi and the Ducati MotoGP team were reportedly conducting another test of the 2012 machine at the Jerez circuit in Spain today, with the machine rumored to be using yet another iteration of the aluminum concept that he tried at the Aragon GP last weekend. According to Italian racing website gpone.com, the newest frame is said to be more of a twin-spar Deltabox design that doesn’t use the engine as much of a load-bearing frame member as the previous monocoque setup, which reportedly just replaced the front carbon section that attached the steering head directly to the engine, along with aluminum subsections for the rear subframe. A previous test at Mugello a couple of weeks ago showed promise for that aluminum chassis setup, but Rossi found it to be not quite the step the team had hoped for during the race weekend, with the eight-time World Champion struggling to finish 10th.
Perhaps this newest twin-spar version might be that step, however, as gpone.com also reports that leaked information had Rossi turning laps in the 1:39 range, which is well within winning times at the Spanish circuit. For reference, Casey Stoner took pole position at this year’s MotoGP race with a 1:38.757 lap (race lap times aren’t usable because of the changing weather/pavement conditions during the race). Although Rossi was reportedly only doing handfuls of laps at a time—signaling that numerous changes were being made, along with the fact that he was using the 1000cc prototype engine—that lap time represents a significant jump from previous tests where he was much farther off the pace. After months of hard work with little to show for it, is this the light at the end of the tunnel that Ducati and the Doctor were hoping for? The Motegi GP in Japan at the beginning of October will tell.