English
Italiano
Few know that one of the first things Jorge Lorenzo checks after a race is the position in which the Ducatis cross the line.
An interesting fact that we can share and that doesn't worry the Borgo Panigale team, despite the last races not having gone too well for the Italian squad, with the real low coming at the Aragon GP.
"The reality – reveals Ciabatti – is that we're in difficulty at those tracks that offer little grip, such as the Spanish surfaces. We suffered at Jerez, Barcelona and now also at Aragon. But there's no cause for alarm in terms of the performance of the Desmosedici".
So Iannone's win at the Red Bull Ring in Austria wasn't an illusion.
"It was one of our goals and we achieved it - underlines the Italian manager - it might seem like an easy excuse but the standings do not reflect our true potential. At the start of the season we lost a great many points in some unlucky circumstances (in Argentina Iannone knocked his team-mate out at the final corner as they were battling for second place), but more than once we've been leading a race, at Assen, at the Sachsenring, in Austria of course, and we were also strong at Silverstone. We didn't win, that's true, but there is no technical problem or anything like that".
However, Ducati is facing one problem this season.
"We started the year with a bike designed for a certain type of tyre that, as of Argentina, was removed from production - Ciabatti reminds us - Unfortunately, at Aragon for example, we suffered with a lack of grip and vibration. We started the race, after a great warm-up for Andrea, thinking we could stick with the frontrunners and fight for a good position, but at a certain point both riders decided not to take a risk and visibly slowed. Having said that, Michelin is putting incredible effort into production…".
It's been like that since the start of the year. Or at least since the Argentinian GP. As you'll recall, on that occasion Michelin removed a tyre from the allocation when Scott Redding suffered a problem with his Ducati in practice. The red bikes problems stemmed from there. Though this isn't the only time the Clermont manufacturer has been obliged to recall one of its tyres, it also occurred at Aragon, though this only regarded a 'line' of tyres, with the elimination of all those from a certain batch.
At the end of the day this is the price that Michelin must pay, after years of absence, to be able to return to the same level of competitiveness as Bridgestone.
And it is perhaps for this reason that none of the manufacturers (as yet) has pointed the finger at the tyre supplier. This is what racing is for after all: to improve the 'breed'.
