Biaggi, Bayliss to fix Ducati woes?
April 17th, 2008Autosport and others are reporting Max Biaggi and Troy Bayliss may be drafted in to help out Ducati to make their MotoGP machine more rideable. Ducati are restricted in using Melandri and Stoner during the season and can only use them on championship tracks on the day after the race. The Ducati test rider, Vittoriano Guareschi, fell off the bike and hurt himself at Mugello so is out of action at the moment. Interestingly, Chaz Davies, once up for the role of Ducati tester, has not featured in the gossip perhaps because Ducati need an old head to help them out of this hole.
Whoever ends up testing the bike, I can’t help but see it as a slap in the face for Casey’s skills at developing a machine, rules or no rules restricting his in-season testing. There is a lot of head scratching in Bologna at the moment and China, early in the season though it is, could be a watershed track for the Italian team. A failure to reach the podium for Casey or a mid-table result for Marco spells serious trouble.
April 18th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Does anyone actually think that Bayliss or Biaggi testing this bike will make any difference? Are either renowned for the development skills?
April 18th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Of the two, I’d choose Bayliss over Biaggi, but that’s because I think Biaggi has a chip on his shoulder. Thinking on, though, maybe his 250-esque riding style would be more in tune with the 800cc Ducati. Mind you, he lkes the wheels in line which is something of a rarity this year on the Red Machine.