From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Ducati Marlboro Team GP preview
British Grand Prix, Donington Park, 23/24/25 July

DUCATI MARLBORO MEN READY TO FULFIL POTENTIAL

The Ducati Marlboro Team approaches this weekend’s British GP full of hope after proving that its new Twin Pulse-powered Desmosedici GP4 MotoGP bike is able to battle for podium results. Riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss may both have crashed out of last weekend’s German GP, but not before they had shown their pace with the Twin Pulse motor, which uses different firing intervals to produce more rider-friendly power delivery than the older Four Pulse engine.

“At the last three races we have really showed our potential, we just haven’t been lucky enough to get the results to back that up,” says Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “During practice sessions at the Sachsenring both Loris and Troy showed a really good race pace which should have had us in the leading group. After a good start, Loris slid off while in third place and Troy, who on the contrary had a bad start, was running at a race pace that was similar to that of the leading group before he crashed. As we look forward to Donington I’d like to thank Ducati Corse and everyone in the team for their hard work and also the riders for never giving up.”

Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli also believes that his riders’ recent pace promises much for the rest of the season and is aiming for a good result at Donington.

“This is a real racetrack because it has a bit of everything – fast downhill corners, maybe the slowest hairpin in MotoGP, very heavy braking and a tight chicane, so you need a well-balanced bike that does everything” – explained Cecchinelli. “It’s also a typical British track, because it really tests a rider’s bravery. As at the Sachsenring, we will only use the Twin Pulse engine which makes the bike easier to manage, both for the team, because it makes the chassis less critical to set up, and for the riders, because it is more friendly on the track.”

As the evolution of the engine continues, so too, in collaboration with Shell, does the development of the lubricants.

At the Donington GP the Ducati Marlboro Team will use the new Shell Advance L6441 engine lubricant for the first time. The new lubricant has been tailored specifically to the needs of the Desmosedici engine by the Shell Global Solution’s chemists at the PAE laboratory in Hamburg, Germany.

Created by the blending of the highest specification oils with chemical components known as “friction modifiers”, the resulting new lubricant minimises organic decay while under extreme loads, reduces specific consumption and increases engine performance.

CAPIROSSI AIMS FOR FIRST PODIUM
This week Loris Capirossi returns to the track that gave him his first Grand Prix victory, way back in August 1990. Capirossi went on to claim that year’s 125 World Championship and since then the affable Italian has won a further two world titles – another 125 crown in 1991 and the 250 prize in 1998 – as well as three victories in the premier class. Now riding the latest Twin Pulse version of the Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP4, Capirossi is aiming for his first top-three finish of 2004 after a promising run last Sunday at the Sachsenring which ended when he slid off while in third position.

“The Twin Pulse engine should be good at Donington, because you need very useable power delivery around this track,” he says. “It’s a really nice track to ride around, and it will always be special to me because I won my first GP here and I also had some success there in the previous year’s Euro round. The first section is great but the second section is the worst part, it’s all braking and low-gear acceleration. The latest MotoGP bikes are very, very powerful, so they’re not so much fun in hairpins. But it’s okay. I also like the atmosphere at Donington – the British fans love their motorcycles and they really appreciate good racing.”

BAYLISS HOPES TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT
Former World Superbike champ Troy Bayliss has had an unlucky run at the last few GPs but is determined to make things right at Donington this weekend. In Germany last weekend he proved to be fast both in practices and qualifying, before a race tumble robbed him of a useful points haul. Donington is a bit of a home race for the Ducati Marlboro Team man who lived between Birmingham and Coventry when he was contesting the British Superbike championship on a Ducati in 1998 and 1999.

“It’s a good track, a rider’s track, that’s why people like riding there,” he says. “It’s got a bit of everything, the first section is really flowing with some fast changes of direction, then it’s got the little tricky section at the end of the lap. It’s far out that they’ve resurfaced the place – it should be fast this year. In the past you’ve always needed a lot a lot of front-end feel there and I guess it’ll be the same this time. Last year I had a couple of little crashes in practice but the race didn’t go too bad. We usually have a little bit of fun at Donington because we didn’t live far from the place when I was racing in Britain, so we generally have a few mates along.”

THE TRACK
Donington Park is known as a real rider’s track, dominated by fast, sweeping corners that crucially interlink with each other. Through these sections a fluid riding style and high corner speed are much more important than brutal horsepower. But just to complicate matters, the Melbourne loop section (added in 1986 to bring the venue up to minimum GP length) features three dead-stop turns where last-gasp braking and vicious acceleration are all important. Getting a MotoGP machine to work through these two contrasting segments is a great challenge for both riders and engineers. Donington has been hosting GPs since 1987, taking over from Silverstone. The venue’s history as a racetrack goes back to 1931 when the owners of the nearby Donington mansion allowed the estate roads to be used for racing. The circuit was shut down during the Second World War and only re-opened in 1977 after extensive redevelopment by local businessman Tom Wheatcroft. The track has been resurfaced for this year’s race.

Donington Park: 4.023km/2.500 miles
Lap record: Valentino Rossi (Honda), 1m 31.023s, 159.111mph/98.867mph
Pole position 2003: Max Biaggi (Honda), 1m 30.740s

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: 208 (38xMotoGP, 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)
Donington 2003 results. Grid: 7th. Race: 4th

TROY BAYLISS
Age: 35 (March 30, 1969)
Lives: Monaco
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP4
First GP: Australia, 1997 (250)
GP starts: 25 (24xMotoGP, 1×250)
World Superbike victories: 22
World Championships: 1 (Superbike: 2001)
Donington 2003 results. Grid: 6th. Race: 5th