To understand the amount of work that Ducati had to put in to achieve the domination that the brand currently exercises in MotoGP, you have to remember where the people of Borgo Panigale started from. This was before the arrival of Gigi Dall'Igna who assembled and optimized things, but it was the time of Valentino Rossi. An arrival which caused great fervor in Italy. The Doctor won the crown with Honda before leaving, moving to Yamaha and doing the same. So after leaving the M1 for Ducati, the plan had to be renewed and especially since a certain Casey Stoner had shown that it was possible to be World Champion with it. We know the rest…
Certainly, but how was this era marked by the Doctor's failure experienced from the inside by the Tavullia clan? We learn it like this in documentary MotoGP Stories: The Resurrection of Ducati… When Valentino Rossi signed for Ducati, it was a great emotion in Italy: “ Vale's motivation was immense, he wanted to show that he could win on a bike other than Yamaha and even more on a Ducati, an Italian bike “, revealed his friend and personal assistant, “Uccio” Salucci.
And then there were the first spins on the red motorcycle… “ When Valentino first tested the bike, he immediately declared that it was not easy to fly. It was a beautiful but strange motorcycle. The engine was doing all the work, the bike was like a block of iron, it had no feel on the bike ».
« As soon as he got on the Ducati, Valentino Rossi realized that it was not what he expected«
Another close friend comes to us from the collaborator of Valentino Rossi over the years, Matthew Flamigni, computer engineer for Il Dottore, who recognizes the difficulties of the nine-time title on the Italian machine: “ as soon as he got on the bike, he realized that it was not what he expected, it was more complicated to ride. For what his riding style demanded, the bike had too many problems to solve. The bike wouldn't turn, it was too powerful, it lifted the front wheel too much and it was a difficult bike to control, including on the straights. ».
We will recall that Red stayed at Ducati for two years, from 2011 to 2012. Three podiums, including two second places, were his best results with the Ducati, including two best laps. Far from the route of Casey Stoner within the same brand.
