Valentino Rossi’s stint with Ducati in MotoGP was brief and fell short of expectations, lasting just two seasons until 2012. However, it left a lasting impact on the team.
Juan Martínez, who was Nicky Hayden’s crew chief at the time, explained to DAZN that Il Dottore brought a shift in philosophy to the bike’s design concept:
– Initially, the bike designed by Filippo Preziosi was conceived without a perimeter frame, and Valentino’s arrival even led to a change in this crucial part of the project, somewhat with the intention of turning Ducati into a Yamaha.
This change, according to Martínez, made the Ducati more challenging to ride: ‘Conceptually, the bike wasn’t designed the same way, so the results ultimately weren’t the same either. Seven different versions of the bike were made in two years. The introduction of this aluminum perimeter frame around an engine that wasn’t designed for it… in terms of volume, it was much larger than an engine designed for such a frame. This made the bike particularly wide ergonomically, which limited the riders’ ability to move on it, affecting performance’.