latest times.. 1 Casey Stoner Ducati 1'32.464 31 / 32 2 Dani Pedrosa Honda 1'32.672 24 / 27 3 Loris Capirossi Suzuki 1'33.325 37 / 39 4 Alex de Angelis Honda 1'33.375 35 / 38 5 Chris Vermeulen Suzuki 1'33.565 19 / 35 6 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1'33.722 6 / 13 7 John Hopkins Kawasaki 1'33.760 44 / 45 8 Randy de Puniet Honda 1'33.832 39 / 42 9 Nicky Hayden Ducati 1'34.128 40 / 41 10 Marco Melandri Kawasaki 1'34.152 32 / 37 11 Andrea Dovizioso Honda 1'34.340 18 / 21 12 Sete Gibernau Ducati 1'34.451 21 / 21 13 Toni Elias Honda 1'34.628 28 / 35 14 Olivier Jacque Kawasaki 1'35.013 38 / 40 15 Niccolo Canepa Ducati 1'35.459 27 / 29 16 Mika Kallio Ducati 1'35.727 21 / 25 17 Yuki Takahashi Honda 1'36.895 26 / 39 18 Gabor Talmacsi Aprilia 1'39.702 250 cc
btw, marco is already faster (barely) on the kwak than the ducati on q-tires... Qualifying: 18 Marco Melandri Ducati Marlboro Team Ducati 1:34.174
and nicky is already faster (new bike, new non-q tires) than marco was in qualifying... 9 Nicky Hayden Ducati 1'34.128 40 / 41
Love the bike, the chapter2 sticker is pretty sick also. I am hoping that he kills it next year on the new ride.
Nicky's paint job looks kinda cartoonish. I was hoping to see him with classic Ducati colors and slideways.
I don't think Ducati could pass up the marketing opportunity to announce Nicky with the colors of their biggest sales market.
im pretty sure that these testing times dont mean much of anything as far as how everyone will do next season
No they don't. It's testing. But it still gives you a general idea of how riders are taking to new teams out of the gate.
If that's the case, wouldn't you think that they would at least put the word 'Ducati' somewhere on the bike or on the rider? Or is the lack of the 'D' branding possibly one of the footnotes on the early out clause of his Honda contract?
i don't see any ducati logos on sete's bike either btw, as an italian american, should i be offended by sete's sponsor on his lower fairing?
On a somewhat related topic, Yamaha has yet to agree to release Haga before December 31. He might not make the test next week after the last race. There is rumors they didn't really like his attempt to expel the rods out of his motor in the pit lane after it failed at Donnington.
Nothing more than speculation on my part. I'm speculating that Honda said something like 'you can either wait until next year to do what you please, or, you can go ride that bike, but, you can't use stickers, patches, etc to associate your name or likeness with the other brand (including any advertisements) until the end of our contract period (whenever that is)'
