Ducati duo round off Mugello test

Sans Gibernau´, Ducati´s MotoGP test team had another day of testing at Mugello on Thursday.

Ducati concluded their three-day visit to Mugello on Thursday, with the factory undertaking their final day of testing before a belated summer break.

For those only wanting to know the latest lap times from Sete Gibernau´s most recent cameo, stop reading now. The Spaniard drew his test to a close a day early on Wednesday having completed his scheduled workload, and left things to regular test riders Vittoriano Guareschi and Niccolo Canepa.

The latter came to the most recent Desmosedici test having made a highly respectable debut with a Ducati superbike at Brno, but was back in MotoGP mode for some rigorous testing. There was no space in the schedule for qualifying tyre work, with Canepa focusing on race pace. His best lap of 1´50.2 came on Wednesday, whilst his final session was devoted to two extended runs. The fastest time clocked from the race simulations was a 1´51.2.

Vittoriano Guareschi was back on the GP9 prototype for the three-day stint, further developing the bike with which Casey Stoner and an as-yet unconfirmed rider will partake in the MotoGP World Championship next season.

`We are satisfied with the job we were able to do in these days,´ said Filippo Preziosi from the Italian squad. `The development of the GP9 proceeds well and we got some positive feedback from the bike despite the hot and difficult conditions. A big thank you goes to the Ducati technicians for the great job they made during the last months. A special thank you also to the guys of the Official MotoGP Team that sacrificed three days of holiday, in order to allow us to run the tests not only with Vitto but with Niccolo and Sete also.´