Ducati's test at Mugello was affected by the weather, forcing Nicky
Hayden and official test rider Franco Battaini to spend more time in the
garage than they did on the track. The conditions alternated between
sunny skies and heavy precipitation for all three days, but both riders
nonetheless did their best to take advantage of the nicer moments by
trying both dry and wet settings.
"We came here looking to make
up time lost due to my missing the Valencia test and having limited time
at the Malaysia and Jerez tests, but it was pretty much a wash," Hayden
said. "It's a shame because Ducati gave me the opportunity to come and
had a race-spec GP12 here, along with my whole team. Yesterday we made
two exits with slicks and also did a bit of riding in the wet, but today
the conditions were wet but also cold and windy, completely
unmanageable. With two back-to-back races coming up, there wasn't much
to be gained by risking testing in the wet. I've learned during my
career that you can't control the weather, so there's no need to
complain. We'll just look forward to the race at Jerez."
"We had
very unstable conditions at Mugello," said Ducati Corse General Manager
Filippo Preziosi. "We tried to optimize our work by doing some setup
tests with Nicky, including some rain settings, given that he rode so
little during the first two winter tests. With Franco, particularly on
the relatively nice first day, we started doing some tests that will be
useful for preparing updates for Vale and Nicky to try during the
post-race test in Estoril. I really hope we get sunny weather in
Portugal!"
