Ducati didn’t preview this weekend’s Valencia GP with the usual comments from Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden, instead they had team manager Vittoriano Guareschi doing the talking, and the Italian team is paying tribute to Marco Simoncelli in their own personal way with this touching dedication on all their trucks - Sic nei ns cuori (Sic in our hearts).

Valentino Rossi will debut a special helmet design in memory of Simoncelli, while Andrea Dovizioso will have #58 close to his heart on his leathers and Loris Capirossi in his final MotoGP weekend before he retires, will be running his Pramac Ducati with #58 plate (he was wearing a black arm band with #58 at the pre-event press conference) and no doubt there’ll be other riders, especially the Italians who will have tribute helmets and Sic’s number on their leathers and bike liveries.

“The Valencia Grand Prix will have a different atmosphere than normal because we’ve been thinking about Marco since Malaysia. He’ll be with us in Spain and beyond, but I think there will also be positive feelings in the paddock, because for Marco, racing equalled happiness, which is a concept that I understand very well,” said Guareschi.

Photo source | davidebrivio@twitter.com

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Just how many people work behind Ducati’s MotoGP team? A lot and they’re all very passionate about their jobs, even the cook, but guys what is it with all the sideburns?

Vittoriano Guareschi is starting to look more and more like Wolverine, but with less hair on top.

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Ducati has wrapped up their three day testing schedule at Jerez and the test team seems satisfied with the results they obtained. However the true test will be at Sepang test at the beginning of February, when Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden will try out these improvements on their GP11’s and find out if the chronic front end problems have been definitely resolved.

Improvements included work on the chassis, electronics and suspensions with Rossi’s Ohlins tech Mike Norton also present to learn the workings of the Desmosedici.

Ducati Day 3 Press Release:

The Ducati Test Team’s third and final day of testing at Jerez (Spain) began at around 11:30 this morning, allowing Vittoriano Guareschi and Franco Battaini enough time to complete the GP11 setup test planned by Filippo Preziosi. The Italian bike’s next outing will be at the hands of the Ducati Marlboro Team riders February 1-3 at Sepang, in Malaysia.

Continue reading: Ducati wraps up 3 day test at Jerez

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Ducati has taken their two test teams to Jerez de la Frontera, which also includes team manager Vittoriano Guareschi who took off his official cap to don his rider’s helmet again, to help Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden in their 2011 season

We’ve seen some the changes that Filippo Preziosi has come up in last month’s video at Ducati headquarters and confirmed during his interview at the Vrooom event. During this three day test, Ducati will test different size Ohlins front end forks, a new and more aerodynamical chassis, swingarms with different ridigity characteristics and a better electronics package.

Here’s what Vitto Guareschi said after completing 50 laps at Jerez, “It was a very productive day, even though the track’s grip was really bad, in part because of the high humidity and in part because the F3 test that took place until yesterday left the asphalt quite dirty. As planned, ‘Batta’ (Franco Battaini, 60 laps) and I divided the responsibilities. I worked on the chassis with the goal of improving turn-in, while Franco concentrated on the electronics, including the new anti-wheelie and anti-spin systems that we’re testing and adjusting. I think I found a couple of interesting things with set-up that help with the front-end feel. We worked on ride height, seat position, and on many aspects of bike set-up that will help with all of the data-acquisition work that are necessary to be ready for Malaysia, when Vale and Nicky will ask us to change the bike in various ways. It’s a refinement process that will proceed for the two days in order to speed up the factory riders’ work in Malaysia.”

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Ducati showed up at the Sachsenring with a new fairing that sports small aerodynamic lateral wings that Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden testing on their GP10’s in yesterday’s free practice and qualifying.

According to team manager Vittoriano Guareschi these wings, which are located on the front and just below the white, should help keep the bike closer to the ground and avoiding wheelies on the undulations of the circuit and remove the front end issues that have been hampering the riders so far this season.

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Since everyone is desperate after such a long winter (it’s still winter and freezing here in Europe) for some sort of MotoGP news, even the light stuff, we’ve decided to translate Vittoriano Guareschi’s video interview with Gpone after today’s test rider day at Sepang.

Gpone: How did your day go as a test rider?

VG: The bikes were okay, I even tested Kallio’s, Espargaro and Barbera’s bikes. I did all ten of the Ducati bikes that we brought to Malaysia. Everthing went fine, it was just to check out that everything was okay so the riders won’t waste time tomorrow. Everything was perfect, but we took five hours to do 10 bikes because it takes time to fix everything. The begining was good.

Gpone: You’ve finished your day as a test rider and tomorrow you’ll be the team manager …

VG: Tomorrow we start working seriously… today they say it was only for fun. Today I did what comes natural to me, riding bikes and having fun. It’s the first time that I’ve seriously lapped here at Sepang and I have to say that the track is really fun, difficult, but fun.

Continue reading: MotoGP Sepang Test: Vitto Guareschi talks about his Day (w/video)

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Under the new rules (dumb, because the riders are hanging around the track or at the pool of the Pan Pacific Hotel) the first day of testing held at Sepang, was for test riders only. The weather is typically Malaysian and as Jorge Lorenzo is reporting from his Twitter page ‘Que calor!’ (it’s hot) and tomorrow’s weather forecast predicts rain.

Test riders included Vittoriano Guareschi, who hung up his Team Manager persona momentarily, by spending five hours testing the Ducati Desmosedici GP10 and not only for the factory Ducati team, but he also gave a shakedown test on all the Ducati satellite team bikes, a total of 10 motorcycles!

Suzuki had on track Nobuatsu Aoki with the GSV-R, while Honda had Akiyoshi Kosuke on the new and revolutionary looking RC212V. Yamaha had two test riders, Yamaha Norihiko Fujiwara e Wataru Yoshikawa with the YZR-M1.

The official riders will take to the track on tomorrow and Friday to test their new bikes and Fiat Yamaha will also offically unveil its 2010 YZR-M1 tomorrow with pics, a series of press conferences and backstage videos by the Fiat on the Web team.

For photos from Sepang, check out our Italian cousins at Motoblog, here and here.

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Another video from Wrooom, the official presentation of Desmosedici GP10 at 1700mt with balloons, dancers and the mandatory bottle of spumante, even if was actually two bottles, because Claudio Domenicali broke the cork inside the first.

Vittoriano Guareschi, who will be Ducati’s team manager this season, has decided not to hang up his lid and leathers despite his new job, infact he has decided to personally continue the testing of the new GP10 along with new test rider Franco Battaini, who is still learning the ropes.

The test team (Guareschi and Battaini) will be in Jerez this Saturday and Sunday for more testing of the Desmosedici GP10.

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The rumor that Ducati’s MotoGP project manager Livio Suppo will be leaving the team at end of season started gaining steam after Casey Stoner’s return from his three race break and after the Sepang GP. Michael Scott from GP Week first reported the rumor, now Dean Adams from Superbikeplanet has picked up on it, with more Italian gossip saying that Suppo could be heading to Honda HRC and he’s another item on Honda’s Shuehi Nakamoto’s shopping list after picking up part of Jorge Lorenzo’s Yamaha crew.

Apparently Vittoriano Guareschi’s promotion to team manager has sent speculation in some sort of frenzy saying that Ducati are paving the way for the arrival of Valentino Rossi in 2011 and that Suppo may be standing in the way of this move.

While it’s true that Rossi has made public overtures towards Ducati, but this year hasn’t been the first time nor will it be the last, but it is also true that Filippo Preziosi has always wanted Rossi in Ducati. The Italian engineer, father of the Desmosedici, often has very nice words for Rossi and considers him one of the greatest riders, even when Stoner won the championship in 2007, Preziosi stated that it was wonderful that a small company like Ducati could beat the giant Japanese manufacturers, but above all they beat the great Valentino Rossi.

Continue reading: MotoGP - Livio Suppo to leave Ducati for Honda HRC?

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Retired three times SBK Champion Troy Bayliss completed his first day of testing of Desmosedici GP9 at Mugello yesterday alongside test rider Vittoriano Guareschi. It was a first time that Bayliss got back on a MotoGP bike after his sensational win at Valencia back in 2006.

Last year Ducati tried to line up Bayliss and Max Biaggi test ride the GP8 in order to to find out why their struggling riders (Melandri, Elias and Guintoli) were languishing near the back of the grid. The proposal fell through when Bayliss declined saying that his priority was winning his 3rd title and Biaggi was injured and had to beg off.

Having Bayliss test ride this year’s Ducati and the GP10, Livio Suppo is hoping that some of the feedback will help this year’s struggling riders and find out why they’re not doing at least the same times as pre-season testing and that Preziosi render the GP10 a rider friendly bike or they may not find someone willing to ride the red missile from Borgo Panigale.

Continue reading: Troy Bayliss on the Ducati Desmosedici GP9

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