Ducati’s aim during this final day of testing at Sepang was to be within a second from their rivals, which didn’t exactly happen as Valentino Rossi finished 1.2 seconds adrift and in fifth spot, but that was also due to the fact that Casey Stoner set the new record, but the Italian managed to improve 1.568 seconds over the three days.

It may not seem much compared to the Honda’s and Yamaha’s, but considering that the GP12 got its first real test with the factory riders at Sepang and had no big technical problems, something that Filippo Preziosi was afraid of with a new bike, the Ducati team left Sepang seemingly happy that both Rossi and Nicky Hayden seem happy and confident.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 5th, 2:00.824 (42 laps)

“We on the team are all happy with how this test has gone, especially today. With a 2:00.8, we’re starting to get to a decent time. The two Hondas and the two Yamahas are still ahead of us, but we consider this test to be a starting point. The most positive things we’ve achieved are that the front now lets me ride a little more as I’m able, that the bike reacts well to changes and that we have very clear ideas on what’s still missing. In particular, if we manage to improve the bike’s behaviour on acceleration, we’ll be able to take a consistent step forward. I know that the work has never stopped at Ducati, and now with the information we’ve gathered, they’ll keep working on the areas that we’ve identified. That might take a while, but there’s still some time before the first race. We have to keep improving, so we’re not getting too excited, but I’m pleased with how things have gone so far.”

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 10th, 2:01.729 (19 laps)

“Obviously, I’d like to have done more. I can’t really say it was a real test for me, but I did a few laps each morning in order to at least get a feel for the new bike, get a little data and understand a couple of things. Even in that limited time, I was able to make small improvements and go quicker each day. Ducati did an amazing job with this bike in a short amount of time. It’s smoother than any other Ducati I’ve ever ridden, it looks slick and it’s good to work on. It’s got good power, and the front end is working well, but with the extra power, now we’ve got to find better rear traction at the first touch of the throttle. With the few adjustments we’ve made, everything seems to be going in a good way, so now I just need to get healthy.”

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Valentino Rossi still remains positive despite dropping back to the sevent spot in today’s second day of testing at Sepang, reporting that he’s following the work program that was set-up by his team and that’s why he did very short runs today.

The Italian also stated that 50% of the problems they had in 2011 have already been solved including corner entry and braking but they’re still working on the electronics package and tomorrow will start also start testing the new Bridgestone tires.

Nicky Hayden was forced to stop after sixteen laps due hampered by pain in his injured left shoulder that he sustained in a pre-season training accident, with test rider Franco Battaini taking his place and in tomorrow’s final day of testing Hayden will try to ride a few laps.

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 7th, 2:01.886 (44 laps)

“It was another positive day, both because we achieved our goal of lapping at 2:01 and because we managed to make further progress with the bike’s setup. On the other hand, as is normal with a brand-new bike like the GP12, as we progress with our tests we also find other details that can’t be addressed with setup alone and that will therefore have to be perfected in the coming weeks. We had already identified those areas yesterday, acceleration and electronics, and we confirmed the progress made with the front end. Honda and Yamaha have been working on their bikes for a year, while we’ve just had two days, which makes our job particularly challenging, but we already knew that as well. Tomorrow will be important as well because we’ll be able to make an overall assessment of the three days, and we’ll have a clearer idea of where we stand compared to the others. If we manage to stay under one second from the top, I’ll be happy.”

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 10th, 2:02.354 (16 laps)

“I was okay when I first went out this morning, and on my second lap I managed to make a pretty decent step from yesterday. After that I lost strength in the shoulder and wasn’t really able to ride fast or consistently enough to test much. I’m okay under braking because I can lock my shoulder out, but when the bike shakes I don’t have enough strength to hold on. I didn’t want to crash and cause bigger problems, so I just decided to chill out. It’s a bit of a bummer, but that’s how it goes sometimes. They’ve done a great job with the new bike, and you can see just from looking at it that it’s really slick. I just wish I could ride it closer to the edge and really see what it does and how it reacts to changes. Maybe I’ll do a few more exits tomorrow, but that’s about it.”

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The first videos from Sepang are already hitting YouTube and obviously everyone is curious to know more about the Ducati G12 that had an almost complete make-over in just three months.

Valentino Rossi seems already delighted with his new machine and says that his riding position on the bike has definitely improved as does his corner entry, braking and he can now get the tires up to temperature faster, four of the big problems he had with last season, besides the tricky front end feeling. The wider range of set-ups has also convinced Rossi that Ducati has taken the right direction.

Testing will continue tomorrow and we’ll see if Rossi continues to improve - he was 0.7 seconds adrift from leader Jorge Lorenzo today and Casey Stoner was missing from the grid - or if the GP12 Phoenix will turn into another GP11 chimera.

Continue reading: Videos: Valentino Rossi onboard the Ducati GP12 at Sepang

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This video interview with Valentino Rossi posted by website Moto.it for Italian TV show Griglia di Partenza was filmed during the recent Ducati Wrooom event and no doubt will take the media rivalry between Rossi and Casey Stoner to another level of dissing in 2012, especially if Rossi should be competitive with the GP12.

Even if this interview is prior to Stoner’s interview with Motosprint, where he said that the Italian belittled his and Honda’s efforts, Rossi laughingly throws off any criticism from Stoner and continues to play his usual head games.

The interviewer Giovanni Zamagni tells Rossi that he received some criticism from several of his rivals, and asks if he was expecting it or not -especially from Stoner - and how he judges it.

“Yes, I’m happy, in the sense that when someone is in difficulty and another rider wins, like in Stoner’s case, you can see his true nature. In every interview he never stops talking about me, in a negative manner. Pratically he says that he has to set the record straight because, I think it was at Misano that I said that he wasn’t pushing enough. The reason he’s so ‘mean’ to me, is that he still hasn’t gotten over getting beat at Laguna Seca in 2008 and he needed two years to get over that … because he thought he could win five consecutive races, like I did instead I stopped his plans and now that he’s winning, he never loses the occasion to ‘murder’ me. I’m sorry for him as he should look forward, because he’s winning, he’s number one in the world, he’s moving up, he has to get over it. I’m sorry for him,” commented Rossi.

Let’s get those handbags out of the closet and poised.

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Valentino Rossi has revealed via his Twitter account his brand new Ducati Desmosedici GP12.

Like Filippo Preziosi, who is present at Sepang, said it wouldn’t look completely different from the GPZero, maybe slighter slimmer and smaller, but what’s important is what’s underneath the fairing and what Rossi can pull out of it during these next three test days, even if Vittoriano Guareschi has already played down any immediate expectations, “A good result could be to finish the three-day session within one or 1.2 seconds off the quickest riders. With a completely new bike, that kind of result should not be scorned.”

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This photo is supposed to be Valentino Rossi’s almost 90% brand new Ducati Desmosedici GP12, now dubbed by the press as the ‘Phoenix’ and taken at Sepang just several hours ago.

Is this the GP Zero that Rossi tested at Valencia or is it the GP12? Ducati brought both bikes to Sepang for a comparison test, so let’s play spot the differences as Filippo Preziosi said that the bike would be smaller, but all the major changes would be underneath the fairing.

Photo Source | hardly_angel@twitter

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Valentino Rossi promised he would post another video of his new Moto Ranch, dubbed the Biscia and this time the video is one of those wildly fought heats that the Italian and all his friends do to “train” and stay on the pointy end of bike control, but we think it’s mostly to have fun.

Sadly, the only one missing of this group of friends is the late Marco Simoncelli, but Valentino has mentioned that he’ll be putting together some footage of his friend when they used to go motocross riding at the Cava.

The guy commenting the race is the fantastic Mauro Sanchini who comments WSBK on the Italian channel La7.

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Early last December you saw the pics of Valentino Rossi and his friends having fun (they call it winter training) at the Biscia, his new motocross and flat track ranch near Tavullia, now you get to see the video.

Former Superbike rider, now turned superbike commentator for La7, Mauro Sanchini was in charge of the filming and you also get to see Mattia Pasini and Andrea Iannone in action.

Luckily for Rossi, the Regional Administrative Court recently ruled against several of his neighbours that wanted to stop construction of the track, because of the noise and the ecological impact that the track is having on the area.

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Which MotoGP rider is the most popular and has the largest fan base around the world? If we were to judge by the sea of yellow and #46 flags waved during any Grand Prix event and the number of times his name is mentioned and the attention and feedback that he garners (good and bad) we’d have to say almost without a doubt that it would have to be Valentino Rossi.

Even in his lousiest season ever, with no wins and only one podium, the number of fans that continue to stay true and loyal and defend their champion is still impressive. So what makes a Rossi fan tick?

Febbre Gialla or Yellow Fever is an Italian documentary that tries to delve into this fan base who even make pilgrimages to the ‘Holy Land’ of Tavullia to see a town that is dedicated and lives for their most famous citizen, while interviewed fans talk and reveal interesting aspects about their idol with curiosities, and anecdotes.

The film, written and directed by Gianni del Corral and produced by The Emotion Film is to help Baby Xitter, a non profit association that collects funds for the construction of a recreational area for children with and without disabilities in the city of Turin.

The project involved Valentino Rossi’s Official Fan Club, the town of Tavullia, Ducati, Dorna, which granted rights to the images and footage that Mediaset provided and some of the original soundtrack is by Mauro Tononi, Rossi’s official imitator.

Check out the trailer after the jump.

Continue reading: Yellow Fever - Valentino Rossi's fans become the subject of a documentary

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During last week’s Ducati & Ferrari Wrooom event, Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden has time to comment on the 2011 Moto2 champion Stefan Bradl who will be debuting in MotoGP this season.

Bradl who tested the LCR Honda 800cc at Valencia, will finally be getting the chance to test for the first time his new 2012 bike, the RC213V in the upcoming Sepang tests, and Rossi talking about the German champion said, “Bradl will have to adapt to MotoGP in his first year, but he is a very intelligent rider and he’ll show his talent” and the added jokingly “hopefully he’ll be slower than I am.”

While Ducati team mate Nicky Hayden talked about his debut in MotoGP back in 2003, saying that Bradl will adapt easily considering that he comes from the GP paddock, “When I arrived in GP racing in 2003 I was very young and didn’t have have any experience at an international level. He [Bradl] comes from the paddock, knows the tracks and the people and this will help him. It’s always good to have new riders in MotoGP and I’m curious to see how they’ll fare. It’s also important to have a German rider as MotoGP is very popular in Germany and at the Sachsenring circuit there’s always a lot of fans, so I’m happy to go back there.”

Bradl has already stated his objectives for the 2012 season, “I’d like to close the first half of the season between 7th and 9th and then in the top five. My long term goal is the title and that would be the top.

Source | motograndprix.com

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Ducati has put together this cute little video of Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden having some fun on the snow covered Dolomite mountains during this week’s 2012 Vrooom at Madonna di Campiglio.

Riding around on a snowmobile, some fake snowboarding action done by professionals (Nicky is still recovering from his injuries, and while snowboarding is one of Rossi’s favourite off-season sports, we doubt Ducati would have allowed him to do the stunts) and riding a Ducati Desmosedici with studded tires.

While it may not be as entertaining as Yamaha USA’s videos, Ducati is definitely improving on this front, so enjoy.

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The 2012 Wrooom event at Madonna di Campiglio ended last night with a victory for Valentino Rossi, albeit it was in the traditional ice kart race.

The Ducati rider beat Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella, but in the Fiat 500 race Massa beat Rossi, with the Italian finishing ahead of Alonso who took third. Nicky Hayden who is still nursing his injured shoulder and ribs let Rossi’s friend, Alessio ‘Uccio’ Salucci, take his place in both races and finishing last in both races.

“It was really fantastic,” said Rossi. “I practice a lot with karts in the summer, and it was great to drive on the ice, especially because it was much colder this time than it was last year, so the track held up well. Felipe (Massa) was faster than I was, but anyway, it was a great night. I enjoyed myself.

The new Ducati GP12 will be undergoing more testing next week at Jerez in the capable hands of World Superbike champion Carlos Checa and test rider Franco Battaini before being shipped to Sepang for the first official MotoGP test of the 2012 season that starts January 31st.

Continue reading: Valentino Rossi beats Ferrari drivers in ice kart race

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