From a press release issued by Ducati Corse:
GERMAN GRAND PRIX – Ducati Marlboro Team preview
Sachsenring, July 16/17/18 2004
DUCATI MARLBORO MEN BRING MOMENTUM TO MIDWAY GP
The 2004 MotoGP World Championship reaches half-distance in Germany next weekend with the Ducati Marlboro Team gathering momentum after strong races in the Netherlands and Brazil. Riders Loris Capirossi and Troy Bayliss are therefore confident of good performances at the Sachsenring, where they ran well this time last year. The team has been rejuvenated by the arrival of Ducati’s new Twin Pulse engine, which offers riders more user-friendly horsepower to help them cut faster lap and race times. For the first time both riders will have two bikes each equipped with the new engine.
While the Rio GP winner’s race time was 14 seconds faster than last year’s, Capirossi’s was 18 seconds quicker.
“We plan to equip both riders with two Twin Pulse bikes from the Sachsenring onwards,” says Ducati Marlboro Team director Livio Suppo. “The last two races really proved the potential of the new ‘package’. If Loris hadn’t had bad starts at Assen and Rio I believe he could have fought for podium finishes, because in both races his pace was very similar to guys who finished on the rostrum. Anyway, his results at those races prove beyond doubt that we have made a major step forward with the Twin Pulse, especially considering how much the MotoGP pace has increased this season. Finally, we are definitely heading in the right direction, and the bike is still growing with this engine which makes us feel very confident for the next few races. Loris has got his confidence back and I am sure Troy will do the same in Sachsenring”.
Ducati Marlboro Team technical director Corrado Cecchinelli also feels his crew’s fortunes are improving after a difficult few races at the start of 2004. “Last year the Sachsenring was good for us and this year we hope it will be even better,” he says. “The Twin Pulse engine should improve drive out of the slow corners; it’s not a track where straight-line speed is that important. What matters at this circuit is nimble handling and easy turning, but we won’t make any big changes to our chassis set-up because both Loris and Troy feel very confident on the bike at the moment, so we don’t want to jeopardise that. Like all tracks, you need a compromise between manoeuvrability and stability, but for the Sachsenring I’d say you err on the side of manoeuvrability.”
CAPIROSSI READY TO BUILD ON TWIN PULSE RESULTS
Loris Capirossi comes to Germany fresh from strong result in Brasil, where he finished close to the podium. Assen and Rio races proved beyond doubt that the Twin Pulse engine is the way to go, so the hard-riding Ducati Marlboro Team rider can’t wait to get back on board at the Sachsenring where he finished fourth last year despite a painful crash during the warm up.
“Assen and Rio showed the potential of the Twin Pulse, it’s a much nicer engine to use, especially over race distance,” says Capirossi, currently eighth in the World Championship points standings after scoring points at all seven races, being now only 9 point to 4th position. “The Sachsenring isn’t a bad track, and yet it’s tricky because it’s easy to go backwards if you make one small mistake. Also, it’s very tight and mostly slow, so overtake isn’t at ball easy, which means doing well in very important. You don’t use full throttle a lot around the Sachsenring, maybe a bit in the second part of the lap but the first section is all half throttle. For sure it’s a good track for the people who are watching, and the Germans fans are incredibly enthusiastic.”
BAYLISS ALL SET TO GET BACK ON TRACK
Troy Bayliss may not have enjoyed the best of results recently but he is nonetheless confident that the German GP may turn the tide for him. The Ducati Marlboro Team man has suffered DNFs at the past three GPs – a broken gearbox bearing at Assen and crashes at Catalunya and Rio – but if last year’s German GP is anything to go by he is in for a better result next weekend.
“We had a good run there last year, ending up on the podium, so let’s hope we can do that again,” says Bayliss. “It’ll be nice to have both bikes with the same engine, I look forward to that. The tests we did at Rio proved again that the Twin Pulse is the way to go – it’s definitely smoother and easy to ride over race distance. The Sachsenring is quite a strange track, especially the first section. And when you get on the bike and ride around it, it’s even slower than it looks from the TV. But I don’t mind it, it’s a bit unusual, with a few blind turns and some bumps, but I enjoy riding around there. Anyway, it’s no good arriving at a track thinking you don’t like it.”
THE TRACK
The Sachsenring first appeared on the World Championship calendar way back in 1961. The high-speed street circuit quickly became one of racing’s most popular venues, regularly attracting a quarter of a million sports-starved East German fans who flocked there to see Western teams take on the Eastern Bloc factories who were using groundbreaking two-stroke technology. The lethal street circuit hosted its last GP in 1972, an all-new short circuit returning the venue to the calendar in 1998. At that time the new circuit was the slowest in GP racing, with a lap speed of just 143kmh/89mph. Revisions for 2000 upped the pace to 150kmh/93mph and the addition of an extra loop in 2001 (which omitted the only remaining part of the old street circuit) increased lap speeds to 156kmh/97mph.
Initially deemed too slow, the Sachsenring is now a popular venue with most GP riders. Nevertheless the character of the anti-clockwise circuit is still tight and twisty, putting the emphasis on delicate mid-range engine performance rather than brute top-end horsepower. Riders use full throttle for less than 20 per cent of a lap at Sachsenring, as they ease on the power through the twists and turns.
SACHSENRING
3.671km/2.281 miles
Lap record: Max Biaggi (Honda), 1m 24.630s,156.157kmh/97.031mph
Pole position 2003: Max Biaggi (Honda), 1m 23.734s
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: 207 (37xMotoGP, 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)
Sachsenring 2003 results. Grid: 3rd. Race: 4th
TROY BAYLISS
Age: 35 (March 30, 1969)
Lives: Monaco
Bike: Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici GP4
First GP: Australia, 1997 (250)
GP starts: 24 (23xMotoGP, 1×250)
World Superbike victories: 22
World Championships: 1 (Superbike: 2001)
Sachsenring 2003 results. Grid: 6th. Race: 3rd