From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

DUCATI MARLBORO MEN CONFIDENT AFTER RAPID TESTS

The Ducati Marlboro Team comes to Estoril boosted by a fruitful Brno test session following the recent Czech Grand Prix. After achieving top-five results at both the Czech and British GPs the team clocked impressive lap times during the Brno session, putting both Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss in confident mood for Sunday’s Marlboro Portuguese GP, round 11 of this year’s 16-race MotoGP World Championship.

“Those two days at Brno were very useful in continuing the evolution of the Desmosedici GP4, so we are looking forward to getting back into action at Estoril,” says Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “During this season we’ve had two priorities. First, to develop a user-friendly engine, and both riders are now very happy with the Twin Pulse motor. Second, to develop the chassis, so the bike feels easier to ride. Both Loris and Troy rode a lot of dry laps during the Brno tests, evaluating new Ohlins suspension settings, and both now feel more comfortable on the bike, with Loris feeling good enough to lap consistently faster than he had managed in the race. Everyone at Ducati Corse is working as hard as possible to continue evolving the bike and we hope that Estoril will allow us to prove that we have taken another step forward.”

Estoril is a tortuous, twisting circuit with the slowest average lap speed in MotoGP, at just 151kmh/93mph. But that doesn’t make it an easy racetrack for riders or engineers. The track is a mass of contrasts – with a 321kmh/200mph main straight, plus the slowest corner in MotoGP (the final chicane, which riders tackle at a pedestrian 60kmh/37mph) and also one the fastest (turn five, which riders attack at over 220kmh/136mph). These contrasts demand some compromises in chassis set-up, with riders requiring manoeuvrability in the tight corners and stability in the sweepers. These two characteristics are not mutually exclusive but it takes expert technicians to create a motorcycle that excels in both situations.

“What we look for wherever we go is a suspension set-up that makes the bike easier to handle and more stable, and this is particularly important at Estoril,” says Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli. “Normally these two characteristics aren’t easy to achieve together but with careful work on suspension it is possible. We have made a big step forward with the Twin Pulse engine, now we are matching that engine improvement with an improved suspension set-up that will give us a good base set-up for every racetrack. Estoril is a very twisty circuit, so rapid steering is very important. It’s also a track that we don’t know that well – we’ve only spent three days there in total – though last year we had a good race.”

CAPIROSSI READY TO MAKE USE OF LATEST IMPROVEMENTS

Loris Capirossi was in superb form at the Brno tests. Now the Ducati Marlboro Team man intends to use the lessons learned during that outing to get his Desmosedici GP4 back up front at Estoril.

“We tried out many small set-up modifications during the tests that allowed me to lap more than half a second faster than I had during the Brno race,” says Capirossi. “Not only that, I was also able to maintain a rapid pace more easily, because the bike is now more comfortable to ride. Estoril is a very different kind of track from Brno but we believe that the improvements we’ve made will benefit us, wherever we go. The track isn’t bad, though the first corner is a bit of a joke and the last chicane is really, really tight. The straight is long, which helped me to beat Sete (Gibernau) last year. My favourite corner is turn five. This is one of the greatest corners in MotoGP – fourth or fifth gear at maybe 230kmh and then you hook sixth onto the back straight. It’s a lot of fun, when you get it right!”

BAYLISS & HIS DESMOSEDICI FIND A STRONG DIRECTION

Troy Bayliss had a luckless weekend at Brno and aims to put that right with a storming result at Estoril. The Ducati Marlboro Team man crashed out of the Czech GP on oil dropped by another fallen machine but is confident he can perform this weekend after improving his best lap time by a whole second in the team’s post Czech GP tests.

“Things are really taking shape with the bike, we have found a strong direction,” says the Australian. “During the Brno tests we found a set-up that should work well at the circuits from here to the end of the season. For sure if the weather during the Brno race weekend had been better, we would’ve had a better race. I do enjoy riding around Estoril, though it’s a funny little circuit. It’s got a few off-camber corners, it’s quite bumpy coming onto the fast main straight and then it’s got that dicky little chicane in the middle of the last section. For sure the suspension work we did at Brno should help. Plus the Twin Pulse motor will be good there because it gives you the feeling for getting on the gas in the slower corners.”

THE TRACK

Although the Marlboro Portuguese GP is the slowest in MotoGP racing the track presents a real challenge to riders and engineers. The contrast of very slow and very fast corners requires certain compromises in chassis settings and it’s the same with the engine – the contrast between the fast start-finish straight and the many slow-speed corners requires maximum peak horsepower as well as gentle low-rpm performance. But perhaps the greatest concern for riders is the track’s proximity to the Atlantic. High-speed winds often whip off the ocean, blowing bikes and riders off course, and throwing dust onto the circuit, reducing grip. Estoril hosts its fifth World Championship Grand Prix this year, though this is the seventh Portuguese GP. The nation’s first two GPs were held at Spanish tracks in 1987 and 1988, because Estoril failed MotoGP’s stringent track safety standards.

ESTORIL DATA

Lap record: Valentino Rossi (Honda), 1:39.189, 151.783kmh/94.314mph

Pole position 2003: Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici), 1:38.412

DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM DATA LOGS

LORIS CAPIROSSI
Age: 31 (April 4, 1973)
Lives: Monaco
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP4
GP victories: 23 (1xMotoGP, 2×500, 12×250, 8×125)
First GP victory: Britain, 1990 (125)
First GP: Japan, 1990 (125)
GP starts: 210 (40xMotoGP, 59×500, 84×250, 27×125)
Pole positions: 36 (3xMotoGP, 5×500, 23×250, 5×125)
First pole: Australia, 1991 (125)
World Championships: 3 (125: 1990, 1991, 250: 1998)
Estoril 2003 results. Grid: Pole. Race: 3rd

TROY BAYLISS
Age: 35 (March 30, 1969)
Lives: Monaco
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP4
First GP: Australia, 1997 (250)
GP starts: 27 (26xMotoGP, 1×250)
World Superbike victories: 22
World Championships: 1 (Superbike: 2001)
Estoril 2003 results. Grid: 8th. Race: 6th