After spending his three seasons at Tech 3 Yamaha, Cal Crutchlow completed the first laps of his new Ducati career in todays Valencia post-race test. Fifth in this year's world championship and the top satellite rider, Crutchlow's debut at Ducati coincided with the first public appearance in the team garage for new Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall'Igna, who has joined from Aprilia. Due to existing contracts, Crutchlow will not appear in full red livery until 2014. Next year's version of Desmosedici will likewise not be available until the Sepang tests in February. Crutchlow, who has taken crew chief Daniele Romagnoli with him to Ducati, is re-joining former Tech 3 team-mate Andrea Dovizioso. Testing takes place from 12:00 to 17:00 on Monday, then two full days on Tuesday and Wednesday. from Crash.net and Motorcyclenews.com
Some blurb and a few pics http://www.bikesportnews.com/news-d...ow-rides-2013-Ducati-MotoGP-bike&newsid=10913 Valencia MotoGP Test: PICS: Cal Crutchlow makes Ducati debut | MotoGP News | Nov 2013 | Crash.Net
The ironic thing is that Iannone was the fastest Ducati,but all a wast of time as they dont test the 2014 bike until early next year.
Sounds like he's enjoyed himself, although he's not overwhelmed by Ducatis 'seamless' gearbox Valencia MotoGP test: Crutchlow talks Ducati MotoGP debut | Bikesport News | BSB, MotoGP News
I think he did okay, 0.1 off Dovi, so at the limit of the bike within 39 laps, that's both the good news and the bad news I guess!... Injured or not though Rossi was nearly 2 seconds off the pace when he first rode the Ducati. Let's see how much Gigi can do in the next 8 weeks behind the helm, i imagine at the very least he can sort communications out so that the dev team are getting the message from the riders correctly.
However over here he is quoted as saying the g/box is better than yamaha motogp.com · Crutchlow reflects on first Ducati Team day “As with anything, I’m used to something else, so it just doesn’t do what I’m used to but maybe that’s just the way this bike works and I have to adapt to it,” the Coventry-born rider continued. “We definitely found some positives with the bike: with the braking on the straight, we are able to stop in a lot shorter a distance than I was yesterday or the day before. Also, the acceleration and gearbox feel a lot better to what I’m used to. There were also some negatives but that is why we were giving the good feedback to the Ducati guys. Dovi and I seemed to be saying very similar things, which is good, so they can create a project for next year.” Plus he managed a faster time on the Ducati than he did on his Yamaha.....go figure
Here's hoping he does well next year. Sadly I can't watch it as I don't want to spend a fortune on subsription tv. Long live the cathode ray tube.
Report from Motoblog here : MotoGP Valencia Test 2013 LIVE: Follow the live Day 2 This is a man bike so it should suit Cal well. It needs to be kicked and punched. is this the face of a happy man or what ? ( i know its early days but..... )
'Faster is nearly impossible', says Ducati's Crutchlow | Bikesport News | BSB, MotoGP News No surprise there...Posting near identical times as Dovi and giving truthful feedback bodes well for next year's developments. I know Gigi will make a difference, but I'm not expecting this to be a short term project. 2015 may be fighting for podiums?