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Hayden sixth in Qatar Grand Prix, Rossi tenth

At the opening round of the MotoGP season, the Ducati Team earned a sixth-place finish with Nicky Hayden and tenth place with Valentino Rossi. The American didn’t get a great start, but his performance improved steadily as the laps ticked down, and he came out on top of a hard-fought battle with Alvaro Bautista, Stefan Bradl and Hector Barbera to finish in sixth place.

Having started from the twelfth spot on the grid after a difficult qualifying session, Valentino Rossi dealt with a number of problems but worked hard the entire race, eventually turning decent lap times.

The racing department in Bologna and the Ducati Team engineers will continue to develop the GP12 in an effort to make progress for the next Grand Prix, which will take place in Jerez, Spain, on April 27-29.

Nicky Hayden (Ducati Team) 6th
“I felt we had the potential to run with Dovizioso and Crutchlow, but considering my injuries and limited testing over the winter, I guess sixth is pretty good. I lost some positions at the beginning because I got hung up behind Spies and wasn’t very good on the brakes, but as the race went on, I managed my tyre well and got stronger. That group I was in was fighting hard, and I was happy to bring Bradl back and come out on top of that battle. We put some good points on the board, got some data and learned a lot from riding with other people. I’m excited for the season. I think if we improve some things, we have the potential to put up some good results. I’d like to thank the team, the sponsors and everybody back at Ducati for all their work, because we’ve clearly taken a step forward since last year.”

Valentino Rossi (Ducati Team) 10th
“Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time in the beginning because when I had new tyres with good grip, the rear pushed a lot, making it very difficult under braking. Then Barbera pushed me off the track and I lost five or six seconds. Otherwise, I could have stayed with that group. As the tyre became used and began to slide, I started to ride a bit better and to do better times, to the point that I matched my best time on the last lap. By that point though, it didn’t count for much.”

Vittoriano Guareschi (Team Manager)
“It was a challenging weekend for our team, but we can also look at some positive aspects as we continue to focus on working with the still-young GP12. Valentino had a difficult qualifying session, and he had problems in the race, particularly in the early laps with fresh tyres. We must learn how to solve this, because in the end he posted some good times. Nicky felt more comfortable during practice, and today he rode with great determination, scrapping with Bautista, Bradl and Barbera to win the hard fight for sixth place. We’ll compare the data and the information we gathered from both riders in order to improve our bike for Jerez.”

Carlos Checa Imola Double Top

Another amazing and unforgettable day for 2011 World SBK champion Carlos Checa who rewarded his team with two brilliant race wins at the Imola circuit; thanks to these impressive results, the Spanish ‘Toro' now leads the championship standings.
A very unfortunate day on the other hand for young talent Davide Giugliano who suffered two DNFs due to technical problems.

Race 1: Carlos made a very quick start and was immediately up in second position, behind Sykes who seemed to have an even stronger pace than the Spaniard. The Althea rider did all he could to stick with the Kawasaki and when he saw that the Englishman was suffering a little through certain sections of the track, he took the tactical decision to pass and break away. On lap eleven Carlos took the lead and from that point he slowly built up an advantage, crossing the finish line in first position with a 3.2 second advantage over Sykes, second. Carlos recorded the fastest lap of the race; the 1m47.877 assured him of the Pirelli ‘best lap' award.
Giugliano started from twelfth position on the grid. He ran off track when another rider made contact soon after the race start. Then, having made an error at the chicane he was given a five second penalty, after which he unfortunately found himself in last position. The young rider tried to make up lost ground but a technical problem prevented him from going beyond lap eight of the race.

Race 2: The second race got off to a similar start for Carlos, who was second, behind Sykes once again, at the end of the opening lap. On lap seven he battled with Biaggi and then a few laps later with Haslam. On lap 14, having closed the gap between himself and raceleader Sykes, Checa got past the Englishman and took control of the race. His strong pace allowed him to break away from the chasing pack and take the second race win of the day. Checa won with a 1.9 second advantage over Sykes in second; Haslam once again closed in third place. With today's victories, Carlos becomes the rider to have won more races than any other at the Imola track - he has celebrated on the top step of the podium five times at this circuit.

Thanks to a strong start, Davide Giugliano was up in eighth by the end of lap one and chasing down Melandri, immediately ahead of him. The Italian pair fought it out for a few laps, before both passed Laverty. On lap fourteen Giugliano was able to pass Melandri, positioning himself fifth where he remained until the final lap. Unfortunately it seems that in the final seconds of the race he ran out of fuel, and was thus unable to cross the line. The situation is under investigation by the team.
Thanks to the 50 points earned today, Carlos has projected himself to the top of the rider standings with 75 points to Biaggi's 71 and Sykes' 69. Giugliano is seventeenth with 10 points. Ducati leads the manufacturer's standings with 91 points to the 71 held by Aprilia, in second.

Carlos Checa: "Another incredible day, one more that I will never forget! At the beginning of race one I could see that Sykes had a very strong pace but I stuck with him. When I realized that he was beginning to have trouble in certain places, I took the opportunity to get past him. Then I was able to build a small advantage which meant I could finish comfortably ahead. It was all an unknown today with the much colder conditions, we didn't know what tyre to use but we took the risk of using that which we'd tested during the practice sessions (but on a much warmer track) - it was a risk but it paid off. The second race was very similar to the first. I made a small mistake near the beginning but was then able to find my rhythm. I thank my team, the sponsor and of course the fans - it's always great to win in Italy and I thank the spectators with whom I share these great emotions."

Davide Giugliano: "This is not what we wanted today. Congratulations to Carlos of course but I am so disappointed as far as my own day is concerned. After the DNF of race 1 I was hoping to take a good result in the second race. I made a fast start, making up some positions very quickly and then I battled for a few laps with Melandri who had a similar pace to me. On the 14th lap I got ahead of him and wanted to maintain the pace to hold fifth place. Unfortunately in the last seconds my bike came to a stop and I was unable to finish, game over. A day to forget, we go to Assen where we hope to make up for this."

Genesio Bevilacqua, General Manager di Althea Racing: "A fantastic result as far as the classification is concerned, with Carlos winning two races that we knew would be no easy feat today. We're fighting with what we have available to us and are pretty satisfied, but of course we're worried about another eventual increase in weight and the air restrictor. I was also very happy to see Davide's great performance in the second race. His weekend was unfortunately conditioned by a lot of bad luck. We're still looking into exactly what happened in the second race when he was up in fifth position but I hope we can continue to put in performances that match the rider's obvious ability."

RESULTS:
Race 1 - 1. Checa (Ducati); 2. Sykes (Kawasaki); 3. Haslam (BMW).
Race 2 - 1. Checa (Ducati); 2. Sykes (Kawasaki); 3. Haslam (BMW).

CLASSIFICATION:
Riders - 1. Checa (Ducati) 75; 2. Biaggi (Aprilia) 71; 3. Sykes (Kawasaki) 69; 4. Haslam (BMW) 47; 5. Melandri (BMW) 46; 5. Rea (Honda) 40; 6. Smrz (Ducati) 30; 7. Laverty (Aprilia) 29; 8. Guintoli (Ducati) 21..... 17. Giugliano (Ducati) 10.
Manufacturers - Ducati 91; Aprilia 71; Kawasaki 69; BMW 63; Honda 40; Suzuki 15

Testing Times for Jentin Doodson Motorsport

Hot on the heels of the 2012 British Superbike series opener, round two proved testing in more ways than one for the Jentin Doodson Motorsport Team.

With only a few days separating the first two events of the year, there was little time to catch breath for the teams as the BSB Championship headed to Thruxton in Hampshire for the second of the twelve rounds.

Fielding the only new for 2012 bike in the class, and with very limited testing, the team continued to improve the bike in the practice and qualifying sessions. However the mixed weather throughout the build up wasn’t ideal development conditions.

During the wet practice the team’s Italian rider, Alex Polita showed both his and the new Ducati Panigale’s potential posting an impressive fifth quickest time.

Race day brought dry conditions and it was a challenging contest for both Polita and team mate Tom Tunstall around the fastest track on the calendar.

Polita came home 19th in race one, before retiring in race two with a technical issue;

"It's been another difficult weekend, the bike is improving slowly, but there's still a lot of work to do. We are paying the price of very limited pre-season test that means we have to test now on track while other riders are fighting for qualify or race. We knew we would use first two rounds as test, Panigale is new and we need some more time to set up everything. During next week’s there'll be a meeting at Ducati for organizing work for next races."

Tunstall finished the races in 23rd and 25th and backed up Alex’s comments;

“Its testament to the new 1199 Panigale that we’ve been able to get so far with completely standard road engines against tuned superbikes with the benefit of a lot of data and testing.

“The bike is great and has so much potential it’s important we use the next couple of weeks to continue the improvements and tap into that. Likewise there is more to come from me and my riding also and I’m looking forward to building onto these first two rounds and coming back stronger”

The third round is staged at Oulton Park in Cheshire over the Mayday bank holiday weekend [5th-7th May].

Moto Rapido also race Panigale

Moto Rapido will also be racing a Panigale in BSB in the capable hands of Scott Smart (left) while Jamie Poole (right) will be running in the 848 Challenge series.

848 Challenge

Dramatic start to the Ducati 848 Challenge at a rain soaked Brands Hatch.

The 2012 Ducati 848 Challenge got off to a dramatic start at Brands Hatch this weekend as the weather played a disruptive influence on the outcome of both races. Cold, rainy conditions prevailed on both Easter Sunday and Monday forcing the field of 33 riders to kick-off the season racing on wet tyres in greasy track conditions.

With a number of riders having to start from pit lane, Race 1 got off to an eventful start with two riders falling at Paddock Hill as all the riders jostled for places and wheels touched. Half a lap later there was mayhem at Graham Hill bend as an overtaking move by Kasey Wyatt (GB Moto Racing) proved unexpected for Darren Fry (Hirebase Ducati Coventry), Jamie Poole (Moto Rapido) and Aaron Brown (Joda Clothing Ducati) and all four slid off the circuit, resulting in the safety car while the circuit was cleared.

When the safety car went in it was Mike Edwards (OHLINS @ P&H Motorcycles) who led, closely followed by James White (Team After Dark) and Ben Field (Ducati UK/Vito Sport VIP/Bike Sport News). One of the pre-season favourites, Marty Nutt (NuttTravel.com) was also chasing down the leading group and was to move into the second position on lap 6, with Mike Dawson (md-racing.co.uk) moving through the field.

Unfortunately oil was now down on the track and with a number of riders falling, including Marty Nutt in a big accident at Paddock Hill, the race was red flagged for safety reasons. Unable to restart because of the extent of the oil, the race was declared a result on lap 6, with riders being awarded half points. Edwards took his first ever win in the Ducati 848 Challenge after being runner-up so many times last season, while Dijon Compton (Boast Plumbing Supplies) took second and Dawson took the final podium position.

Race 2 took place in similar conditions, the temperature dropping making it even harder to get the heat needed into wet tyres. Dijon Compton lined up in pole position, having set the fastest lap time in race 1, with Edwards, Dawson, and Ed Smith (Ultim8 Racing) alongside him. But, as with race 1, things took a dramatic turn on lap 1 when the four leading bikes of Compton, Edwards, Smith, and James Folkard (Minards Pavlou Solictors) went down at Clearways one after the other. That opened up the race for Steve Jordan (Global Robots/Steve Jordan Motorcycles), Byron Beckett (SAS Racing), and Robbie Brown (Ducati Manchester) to push on, with team-mates Woolsey Coulter and Scot Adam (Quelch Racing) storming through the field from Row 6, and Ben Field again showing his Supersport experience.

Beckett was to hold the lead for five laps until crashing out at Graham Hill bend, almost taking out Field, opening the way for Coulter and Adam to fight for the lead. Brown meanwhile started to reel them in, and in a brave last corner move took the lead having made up nearly a second on the last lap to take the race win. Coulter, having come out of a long-time racing retirement to contest this season, took second, with his team-mate Adam third. Ben Field chosen by Bike Sport News to ride the 848 Challenge Vito Sport VIP bike, bagged his second fourth place of the weekend showing his undoubted talent and potential on a bike he had never ridden before.

Race 2 winner, and early Championship leader, Brown said afterwards, “The conditions out there were treacherous. I got a good start and looked to hold my position for the early parts of the race while others were falling all over the place. Once I got into my rhythm I felt I could push on, and that last lap was do-or-die for the win. It's a good way to start the season.”

Race 1 Result (Half points): 1. Edwards, 2. Compton, 3. Dawson, 4. Field, 5. R Brown, 6. Folkard, 7. Smith, 8. Hasler, 9. Wilson, 10. Holden, 11. Myler, 12. Poyser, 13. Coulter, 14. Adam, 15. Steve Jordan, 16. Beckett, 17. Lister, 18. Gibson, 19. Keen, 20. Poll, 21. Cruickshank, 22. Neary.

Race 2 Result: 1. R Brown, 2. Coulter, 3. Adam, 4. Field, 5. Neary, 6. Jordan, 7. Cruickshank, 8. Hasler, 9. A Brown, 10. Poll, 11. Coventry, 12. Dawson, 13. Gibson, 14. Wilson, 15. Keen, 16. Poyser, 17. Poole, 18. Holden, 19. Wyatt, 20. Sarah Jordan.

Championship Top Ten: 1. R Brown (30.5pts), 2. Coulter (21.5), 3. Adam (17), 4. Edwards (12.5), =5. Hasler (12), =5. Dawson (12), 7. Neary (11), 8. Steve Jordan (10.5), 9. Compton (10), 10. Cruickshank (9)

Leon Morris, 2011 Rapid Solicitors Ducati 848 Challenge Champion

Ducati Owners Club GB support Gary Byrne in the 848 Challenge

by Graham Stoppani

Okay, we all know which team to support in BSB, WSB and Moto GP – anyone on a Duke! But what if they’re all on Ducatis? - not so simple now is it? This season we suggest you keep an eye open for Gary Byrne who will be competing in the 848 Challenge for the first time. Let me tell you why we think Gary is a great rider for the club to support.

Gary caught the racing bug as a nipper when he met Barry Sheene; this led to his first bike, a 50cc Ital Jet, at the age of 5. It wasn’t until Gary was 14 that his family could afford to let him go racing on a 125cc motocrosser. However, Gary’s real ambition was to go road racing. Aged 15, Gary’s dad persuaded John Ward to let Gary try out a VFR400 at the Cadwell Park Race School and at 16 Gary was competing in Superteens, one of the support race series for BSB and the British GP. Since this early start Gary went on to have a successful race career including winning a number of championships including 600 Supersports, the Miller 500 mile endurance and the Suzuki 1200 Bandit championships.

In 2004 Gary’s racing career had to be put on hold as his son Lewis, then 5, was diagnosed with a rare and life threatening disease. Lewis spent long periods at the Great Ormond Street Hospital until he eventually received a life saving bone marrow transplant; even then it took another three years until he was well enough to go to school. Fortunately, Lewis is now a strong and happy 12 year old.

With Lewis once more in good heath Gary could return to racing and for the last two years he has competed in the Harley-Davidson XR1200 Challenge. With that race series coming to an end Gary has joined the 848 Challenge. Gary and his father Tony have not forgotten what Great Ormond Street did for Lewis and now combine racing with raising the awareness of the work this hospital does, especially the need for bone marrow donors.

Gary has agreed to write a regular column for Desmo giving us the stories behind the results. He has also offered to invite a couple of members to come and spend a race day working as part of the team (watch this space for further details). In return for Gary’s generosity the club has agreed to help promote Gary’s charity work as well as inviting him into the world family of the Ducatisti. Through us Gary has already been in contact with Alistair (Super Mono) Wager to talk over the bike set up – bit different to a Harley I imagine.

So either go out and buy the biggest flat screen TV you can if you want to see an 848 racing with the DOC GB logo on it on Eurosport this summer, or better still get down to your local race track and give Gary a shout as he comes past!

The 2012 Calendar looks like this

7, 8 & 9 April	Brands Hatch Indy (BSB)
11, 12 & 13 May	Assen TT (DCN
25, 26 & 27 May	Snetterton 300 (BSB)
22, 23 & 24 June	Misano (WDW)
6, 7 & 8 July	Oulton Park (BSB)
25, 6 & 27 August	Cadwell Park (BSB)
7, 8 & 9 September	Donington Park GP (BSB)
28, 29 & 30 September	Silverstone GP (BSB