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Domenicali reveals Desmosedici GP8 |
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Posted by Staff
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Thursday, 10 January 2008 |
CLAUDIO
DOMENICALI REVEALS DESMOSEDICI GP8
After the two Ducati MotoGP Team riders Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri
presented the Desmosedici GP8 in its new livery, Claudio Domenicali, Ducati
Corse CEO and Ducati Motor Holding Product Director, revealed the technical
details of the new bike to the press yesterday.
Two hundred journalists from all over the world gathered at Madonna di
Campiglio to attend the Wrooom - MotoGP Press Ski Meeting 2008 and meet the
Ducati MotoGP Team riders and management.
In addition to explaining the 2008 technical innovations, Domenicali also
briefly analysed the 2007 Ducati championship and commented on the most
interesting points of the next championship.
"It is very exciting to be here," began Domenicali. "This event
has become traditional over the years, but I must say that it feels different
this year. The very special feeling created in 2007 between rider, bike and
tyres resulted in a fantastic season for all of us. I could sum it up by saying
that Casey was able to perfectly interpret our GP7, which had been impeccably
built and maintained high levels of competitiveness and excellent reliability
throughout the season. The Bridgestone tyres also took a step forwards in terms
of performance consistency, thanks to our successful joint efforts which had
begun in 2005 and allowed us to basically close the gap with Michelin.
"Our 2008 bike is evolved from the 2007 model - how could we have done
otherwise? There was so very little wrong with that bike," continued
Domenicali before analysing the new bike's technical characteristics. "We
worked on all areas. In terms of chassis set-up, the new frame is lighter with
optimised torsional and flexural rigidity to solve the rather minimal
‘chattering’ that we experienced on a few occasions last year. The rear
suspension geometry is also different to reduce the 'pumping' effect observed
in certain tracks and in special conditions. As for the engine, we worked on
two areas. First of all, performance. We introduced a number of modifications
to minimise friction and obtain a small power increase without affecting fuel
consumption. Secondly, we worked on rideability, in other words, engine
response proportional to the rider's torque requirements. We tackled this
aspect to obtain a 'fuller' engine response especially mid-range and maintain
peak power for longer.
“Finally, with regards to electronics, we modified a few sensors and actuator
details to increase reliability and consequently, safety. One of the main
reasons of our presence in racing is to develop technology to be transferred to
production bikes, improving safety and making them even more fun to ride.
Electronics play an important role in all this. An example of this is our new
1098 R, which is equipped with exactly the same traction control system used in
Ducati racing bikes, making it the first bike in the world to feature a system
able to combine safety with high performance."
Domenicali concluded his presentation by talking about the essentially
important support granted by Ducati sponsors in a highly competitive and
challenging environment like MotoGP.
"We would like to thank Phillip Morris who made it possible to reach these
goals. Without them, all this would have been very hard to achieve. Our
contract with them runs until 2011 which gives us the peace of mind needed to
continue our work," said Domenicali. "Just today, we renewed our
contract with Shell, an extremely important technological partner to us, given
the importance of fuel consumption in our championship regulations."
Domenicali also thanked other Ducati partners, including Alice, a long-standing
sponsor, San Disk, with a renewed contract until 2009, and Riello UPS. Finally,
he mentioned the newly acquired, important partner Enel, now in a two-year
agreement with Ducati.
Wrooom, which this year also includes F1 World Champion Ferrari team events,
will end on Friday, January 11th.
More information is available at http://www.ducati.com/racing/home_news_popup_racing.jhtml?newsId=39736.
Official Partners: Brembo -
CHT - CM Composit - Datacol - DHL - Ditec - Fiat Veicoli Commerciali - Malaguti
- Prisco Tumi - Valter Moto
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