The Italians were beside themselves over the MotoGP Valencia tests this week as Valentino Rossi took to the track for the first time on the Ducati GP11. But after a relatively positive first day, the second day of testing turned into a mini-nightmare for the Desmosedici and its new rider. After seemingly battling front-end problems, Rossi came in 15th in test times, well behind riders with much less illustrious histories.

Many sideliners have weighed into the debate expressing not just disappointment, but serious concerns for 2011 and Rossi’s first year on the Ducati. Rossi himself can’t make any official comment which is okay with us as we’d be more interested to hear the unofficial stuff, anyway. We can imagine that Valentino would have preferred to start with a “bella figura” (good impression) but is the former world champion going to be as concerned as his fans and Ducati management? Rossi is considered one of the best bike developers on the paddock, with plenty of experience and even a few difficult moments years ago when he first starting working on the Yamaha M1.

It’s perhaps not unreasonable to expect a decent performance from Rossi next year given his calibre, but we’re pretty convinced that Ducati didn’t take him on to win a championship in his first year. It’s hard to know what the long-term vision would have been for Ducati, though. Rossi has stated he was ready to move on from Yamaha, to new challenges next year and we’re inclined to believe him (along with some contributing factors from Yamaha and an upstart teammate who just took out this year’s championship).

Continue reading: After the hype: the Ducati GP11 to become Rossi's new M1?

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