På 12mån har det inte hänt ett skit, som syns utåt, snarare tvärtom. Är det nån som hittat nån bra länk som faktiskt förklarar Audis "samarbete" med Ducati, vad gör dom eg.? Jag har inte lyckats hitta mycket mer än att "Nu när Audi är med i matchen kommer det bli förändring", likt ditt inlägg ovan. Men inte vidare mycket konkret info verkar finnas ute. Vad har Audi bidragit med de senaste 12månaderna som faktiskt gett resultat? Att Preziosi fick kängan & skyllde på hälsan gav ju knappast nå vidare resultat, som vi sett än så länge.
Vad jag inte förstår är vad Audi kan tillföra? Mer pengar (om det hjälper), men de har väl ingen speciell kompetens. Tvåhjulingar har de ingen erfarenhet, och vad gäller egen racing så är de gårdagens nyhet. Inte heller har de några innovationer att tillföra teamet. Ärkerivalen BMW har ju hängt med MotoGP i många år utan att ens komma med mer än en föråkarbil, och WSBK-satsningen har de nyligen lagt ned. Audi är dessutom übertyskt, och inte är det i Tyskland/Österrike som de ska värva yttersta kompetensen till Bologna? Burgess/Rossi&Co var nog mer rätt namedropping än Audi/Crutchlow och jag har därför lägre förväntningar på Ducati för 2014 än vad jag hade 2011.
Tyskt arbetssätt lär det ju bli i den Italienska fabrikens R&D rum
Bernhard Gobmeier, General Manager of Ducati Corse is coming to grips with his new role, and is beginning to set goals for the 2013 season.
“We need to decrease the gap to our rivals, and to try to fight for the podium
towards the end of the season. From over 2 seconds of the first test we are down to 1.5.- 1.2 seconds. Now we need to roll up our sleeves and move on,” said the Ducati manager in a interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport.
Compared to the past, Gobmeier is trying to give the department
a more German work method, “I’m the head of the project and next to me, there is a larger work group, there are various people involved. The engineers who follow the bikes on the track, our official riders and Pirro, our test rider. We are trying to proceed with logic, with weekly meetings to take stock of the situation. We don’t want to find ourselves at the beginning of 2014 without a defined project. At what point are we with that bike? Well, I do not know, it could be 25-30%."
In regards to development, Gobmeier expressed the same thoughts that he did during the Wrooom at Madonna di Campiglio, and also talked about the Desmosedici “laboratory” bike.
“We will not set aside or fast-forward solutions without the certainty that they’ll work. We are working this way."
Talking about Andrea Dovizioso he said, “Working with Andrea is very stimulating. I like his approach, he gives clear and precise indications. In the last two years he rode two different bikes, and has already given us some ideas and we’ve taken them very seriously.”
Gobmeier also took a dig at Ducati’s former rider Valentino Rossi,
“In two months Andrea has come to the factory more times than Valentino did in two years.”
The Ducati Corse Department manager has already some clear ideas on which direction to take in trying to make the Desmosedici a winning machine again, but fans shouldn’t expect a ‘revolution’ because as the German manager put it during his interview this morning, it will be an ‘evolution’, and a medium to a long term one at that.
Hayden and Dovizioso can not hope to accomplish much riding the current Ducati bike. However, looking at Paolo Ciabatti’s determination to improve the MotoGP bike,
2014 should be a much more competitive season.