Ducati croise les doigts

[FracK]

Après le départ difificile du début de saison suite à l'état de santé de ses deux pilotes, le team espère que Capirossi et Checa seront remis pour le GP d'Estoril, ou ces derniers comptent bien briller.


DUCATI MARLBORO MEN BUILD STRENGTH FOR ESTORIL
Ducati Marlboro Team riders Loris Capirossi and Carlos Checa had a tough start to their 2005 season last weekend in Spain but are hopeful of a turnaround in fortunes at Estoril. Both men will be stronger than they were at Jerez, their recently sustained injuries having had another few days to heal, and they will race their Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedicis in 'standard' form, without the innovative electronic engine-braking control system that they used for much of the weekend at Jerez.

"We had a tougher start to the season than we expected," says Ducati Marlboro Team MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo. "But we know that we didn't show anything like our true potential at Jerez. Looking at our bike/rider/tyre package we are confident that we will be much more competitive very soon. Winter testing mostly went very well but at Jerez both our riders were carrying injuries and we spent all of practice with our new engine-braking system but didn't use it in the race due to problems that only emerged during Sunday morning warm-up. At Estoril we will revert to the standard system, which for the moment offers better performance, while our test team will continue to evaluate the new system at Mugello next week. Tyre-wise, we were impressed by Shinya Nakano's ride at Jerez, he was fast all through the race, proving that Bridgestone is making excellent progress."

Estoril is MotoGP's slowest track. It is also bumpy and not too grippy, demanding careful set-up work "Estoril is a very twisty circuit, so rapid steering is very important," says Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. "We will work to make the bike both easy to handle and stable. Normally these two contrasting characteristics aren't easy to achieve together but with careful work on suspension it is possible."

CAPIROSSI: 'TURN FIVE IS ONE OF THE BEST'
Loris Capirossi goes into this weekend's Portuguese Grand Prix still hurting from the left ankle injury he sustained at Jerez last Saturday. The Ducati Marlboro Team man rode to a gritty 13th place in the Jerez race and will be aiming to finish higher up the order this Sunday.

"At least my ankle will be stronger than last weekend," says the Italian. "Estoril will still be tough though, it's a tight and bumpy track, so it's very physical. Other than that it's quite a nice circuit, with a long main straight which should be good for us. It's also got one of the greatest corners in MotoGP, turn five, which you attack at 230kmh. It's a lot of fun, when you get it right! Apart from my injury I'm fairly happy with things so far. This year's bike is much better than last year's, much more balanced. The tyres are also improving - at some tracks they are already competitive, at other tracks we need to do a little work. The main thing is that we already have a very good working relationship with Bridgestone, they're good people and they work very hard."

CHECA LOOKS FORWARD TO ESTORIL'S CONTRASTS
Carlos Checa will also be riding injured this weekend. Last month the Ducati Marlboro Team rider crashed in testing and suffered a dislocated left shoulder, an injury that takes time to fully heal.

"The shoulder made it difficult for me to hold a line at Jerez, but I'll be stronger at Estoril," says Checa, who scored his first MotoGP pole at the 2002 Portuguese GP. "The most interesting thing about Estoril is its contrasting layout - some sections are very, very fast while others are very, very slow. The chicane is so slow you could probably be quicker through there on a paddock scooter! You work towards a compromise set-up that works well through all sections but you focus on getting the bike right for the fast parts, because that's where you make most time, and work at the slow parts yourself - just muscle the bike through. Of course I'm still very new to this bike, so I need more time to fully understand how to achieve the ideal set-up."