If you are a Ducati owner, Valentino Rossi Fan, Italian, or have more than a passing interest in MotoGP, then today is the day you’ve had marked on your 2011 calendar (with perhaps the Valencia test being the date of 2010). Finally released from his contractual obligations with Yamaha, Valentino Rossi can officially begin his duties working for Ducati Corse this week, and Ducati has already capitalized on the moment by showing off Rossi’s new leathers to great fanfare. Now the pièce de résistance and the end to our torment, Ducati has finally debuted the Ducati Desmosedici GP11 at the 2011 Wrooom media event, a joint launch event between Ferrari and Ducati held in the Dolomite Mountains.
The styling straight from the 1980′s comes courtesy of Aldo Drudi (the same man that does Rossi’s helmets), and is “colorful” when said politely, and may be responsible for already causing a seizure when viewed in-person. With 70 engineers toiling away in Ducati Corse’s sequestered part of the Italian factory, the Ducati race team has been hard at work to improve upon the GP10.
Neon paint aside, the most noticeable change is the refined fairings, which are more aerodynamic and have noticeably smaller winglets than last year’s GP10, but the bulk of what sets the GP11 apart from the GP10 lies beneath the fairing, in a motor that has to be announced as either the “Big Bang” or “Screamer”. “The main changes are in the engine, they are internal and external and are designed to achieve a more favourable, flatter torque,” said Team Boss Filippo Preziosi. “The aim of the changed aerodynamics is to reduce friction, therefore improving the maximum speed while reducing the lifting of the front wheel.”
Ducati Corse has also been playing around with a variety of new chassis setups, and have developed a bevy of carbon fiber frames that vary in rigidity and torsion strength. Ideally different frames will suit different tracks, and will allow for more adjustability on the GP11 as it gets developed in the off-season, and during the racing schedule. “With the chassis we have a different rigidity and torsion, and a swingarm with a different stiffness too. We are making a new fork for Sepang, adapted to the suspension for 2011.”
“In terms of electronics we are mainly working on anti-wheelie and traction control. We will be at Jerez from January 17th-19th with Franco Battaini and Vittoriano Guareschi, who will be on track.”
Talking about Rossi’s contributions to the Desmosedici GP11, Preziosi said that “[Rossi] is telling the technicians a lot of very precise information, the most surprising thing is how he is able to put everyone in a very calm mood and ready to work and analyse all the data. This is something very difficult to do when you are under pressure. We are also very happy because Jerry (Burgess) and the other guys have linked very well with our guys. They have great experience and we are trying to add our experience together to make a better bike.”
“I want to thank Yamaha again because they allowed Valentino to test, which was really important for us because we had a lot of priorities to work on. After that we could put them in the right order, so now we are working on the parts that we decided were priorities.”
Technical Specifications of Ducati Desmosedici GP11
Engine : 4-stroke, 90 degree V4, liquid cooled, desmodromic double shaft overhead cam, 4 valves per cylinder.
Displacement : 799cc
Maximum power : Over 200hp
Maximum speed : Over 310 km/h
Transmission : 6-speed extractable Exchange, with alternative gear ratios available. Clutch Dry multiplate slipper clutch. Chain final drive.
Supply : Magneti Marelli indirect electronic injection, four throttle bodies with injectors above butterfly valves.Throttles operated by EVO TCF (Throttle Control & Feedback).
Fuel : Shell V-Power Racing
Lubricant : Shell Advance Ultra 4
Ignition : Magneti Marelli
Exhaust : Termignoni
Final drive : Chain
Chassis : Carbon fiber.
Suspension : Öhlins 48mm upside-down and Öhlins rear shock, adjustable for preload, compression, and rebound damping.
Tires : Bridgestone, Front and Rear 16.5 “
Brakes : Brembo, two 320mm carbon front discs with 4 piston calipers. Single stainless steel rear disc with dual-piston caliper.
Dry Weight : 150kg (330.1 lbs)
Source: Ducati
is it just me or does the in-person hot pink/fluorescent yellow look better than tv red/yellow?
…oddly reminiscent of winston cup paint schemes from the early 90′s, though(??)
ayoyo pink color aaaaaa…..
Has Ducati witched to a carbon fiber frame/chassis or are they talking about prototypes ?
Ducati had problems with the carbo fiber swingarm to the point in which they went back to a traditional billet aluminum unit later going back yet again to the carbon fiber swingarm .
the point is it took roughly 2 years to develop.dont get me wrong, I love to see new designs comming out and build radical race bikes myself . But at tis time I cant see taking on the juggernaught of trying to develop th first CF chassis ( motorcycle chassis design is 10x harder then auto design due to many more forces at many more angles ) When Ducati hasnt even fixed its front end grip problem on the traditional chassis AND right now being the world has there eye on Ducati success is criticle
i thought AMG was supposed to be a major sponsor? looks like they one tiny little sticker on the nose, hmmmm
oh and the smaller one on the side, none the less
Ducati has had the carbon fiber frame running for at least 2010 i dont remember before, i do remember the swingarm rpoblems but i know they switched to a frame.
The problem with alu is that it degrades over time and the problem with carbon is that you always have suprises (CAD simulation has it’s limits)…
Ducati introduced the carbon “frame” in 2009 with the GP9. While they did momentarily switch back to an aluminum swinger in an effort to fight the pumping issues the bike was having on acceleration, I believe only Nicky ran it, and quickly switched back to the CF unit. What I find interesting is the mention of running different headstocks and swingarms to vary the flex at individual tracks as needed. I don’t believe that has been done in the past. Not something you could easily do with a conventional twin spar aluminum frame.
And for those freaking out over the hot pink livery, I am fairly certain that is down to the phone used to record that. Look at the rest of the colors in the video. The are all off. Either that, or everyone in that shot is the walking dead. Take a look at the studio photos and you see it is still a fairly traditional red.
Am I the only one who sees Peanut Butter Cups?
Anyone notice that Nicky’s bike is different to Rossi’s? Have a look at the rear cowling and intakes. From on angle, the back end of Rossi’s bike looks like it is shorter by a couple of inches. When you look at where each bikes back lines up with the rear tyre, they are different. The intakes either side of the rear cowling are much smaller on Rossis bike as well.
Also the angle of the front screen on Nicky’s bike is steeper than Rossi’s.
I’m pretty sure Nicky will have noticed this………
AMG is the official car sponsor. People blew that announcement up because Fiat was rumored to be leaving Yamaha (which then actually happened). Because it’s never advertised, it often goes overlooked that Marlboro is the title sponsor of the team. AMG was never going to supplant them in that role. Same goes for Diesel and Acer who have also recently signed onto the squad.
jensen:
so who then will sponsoring team Yamaha(lorenzo+spies)?Yamaha didn’t make any statement about that…is it Air Asia??
SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK!!!!
I simply cannot believe that this team is not sponsored by McDonald’s.
Ahh, that explains the Diesel logo on the front of Rossi’s windscreen.
pokheng – you must have missed this one:
http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/banter/jorge-lorenzo-rockstar/
Lorenzo is now a Rockstar.
The Yellow Portions look tacky… i don’t care if that’s “his” color, IT don’t blend. IT looks like a super fast and furious STEAMY PILE of Shiznit.
Nicky’s is way cleaner… but still not feeling the wide lower white stripe ( like a fat chic on a white loose dress ) doesn’t help at all to make it “seem” slim.
I think someone mentioned the “new” paint scheme looks retro………yup, im starting to see it too.
Then again, beauty is on the eye of the beholder…lol.
I’m all good with the new bikes, your not going to miss that on the track that is fore sure. Does its job well but nothing revolutionary. Next up Yamaha, lets see where they take the M1
BTW, is it me or does Rossi need a tan? Looking alittle pasty my friend
If Marlboro is still the title sponsor, where is their logo?
@ML Tobacco advertising laws do not allow Marlboro’s logo on the bike. Traditionally the team has run the barcode logo for Marlboro, but even that is being cracked down on this year (Marlboro was down to just a white stripe in Formula 1, and I believe now that’s even gone).
@ RGR It looks like Rockstar is a personal sponsor of Lorenzo’s, not a team sponsor.
who knows what Japanese word’s mean at the right side of Rossi’s bike?
Yamaha still doesn’t have any sponsor yet from other brand….
poor them…
this thing happen to the team that is defending champion 2010 ..
so strange i think..
this is absolutely show that how big is Rossi’s influence in Motogp..
unable contested by any riders…
he’s the legend….
for me, Ducati team are very auspicious with Rossi in their camp…
not only for the race, but also in motorcycle marketing…
they can use Rossi’s magic touch to build a superbike that more powerful than Japanese..
of course, their sales will be rising ………..
it show how big Rossi’s influence to the superbike world…
Honda and Yamaha doesn’t know how to appreciate people that give huge contribution in development of their bike…
they also doesn’t know how to take advantage by Rossi in their camp with develop and produce superbike that get Rossi’s magic touch beside they do it with person that never get achievement that could be proud…
i hope Ducati do not make the same thing as Honda and Yamaha.
Rossi and bike look like they should be racing for some team weve never heard of in Moto2.