Ducati moving slow, if not backwards
While Yamaha plays coy and tires to hide their seamless transmission to be tested this week, and Honda move confidently forward knowing that they currently have the package to beat, Ducati seem to be the only ones giving an honest assessment of their current situation: stuck right where they were in November of 2012. The GP13 is actually a GP12.1, in the sense that it's new, but only in construction.
"That's right, the GP13's are freshly built bikes, but essentially the same as the 2012 version - a Ducati spokesperson explained - as we have previously stated, we are here to retest the material already used last year. But we must also give some time to Dovizioso, so he can familiarize himself with the bike after having ridden it very little so far."
So there are no updates? Not even small ones?
"We have tons of stuff to test, because during last season's tests we found neither a direction nor the limit of this bike. You build new parts when what you have isn't sufficient, and you need to move forward. But where? That's the point, and that's the question we need to answer."
So it's pointless to remind you that Rossi and Hayden have already tried everything...
"It's a question of method: it wasn't anyone's fault, but last year we tested so much stuff, but..."
…without a method or organization of the work, he wanted to add. Our interlocutor, who can only be referred to as a spokesperson because few people at Ducati are authorized to speak publicly right now, nods his head in agreement.
Right, so who is calling the shots now? Is Preziosi really out of the picture?
"Preziosi hasn't been seen at the office since November - the response comes - he had a lot of accrued vacation time. Now everyone reports to Gobmeier. He already came to the Jerez test, and there are plenty of new ideas. The engineers are the same ones who worked with Preziosi, only now that they have more freedom, they can also take more responsibility for their individual sectors."
Translation by Sean Sedacca
