Ducati Desmosedici GP11 race bike

Ducati has taken the wraps off Valentino Rossi's prototype MotoGP race bike, the Desmosedici GP11, which includes a custom paint job by Aldo Drudi.

Accented with Rossi's customary favourite colour, yellow, the Italian's new Desmosedici GP11 has a more individual flavour than team mate Nicky-Hayden's ride, an indication of the respect Rossi commands at the Italian-based Ducati Corse MotoGP team.

The new race bike was unveiled during the week-long Ducati Corse MotoGP team launch in the Dolomite mountains in Italy, held at the Madonna di Campiglio ski resort, and principal designer Filippo Preziosi was on hand with the several other Ducati big wigs to launch the motorcycle.

Preziosi explained that some of the main changes to the Desmosedici GP11 race bike include improved aerodynamics, revised electronics, plus a stiffer chassis and tweaks to engine torque. See below for the technical specifications.

"The aerodynamics are completely different, and the features are those we tested at Valencia (in November) upon which we will base the evolution of the bike," said Preziosi.

Powered by a 799c four-stroke, 90-degree V4 desmodromic engine, the GP11 race bike also features double overhead cams, four-valves per cylinder and generates "more than 200hp". It also weighs just 150kg and has a top speed of more than 310km/h.

There was plenty of conjecture about whether the new engine would be a 'screamer' or a 'big bang' type, but Preziosi says it is neither. "The main changes are in the engine, they are internal and external and are designed to achieve a more favourable, flatter torque [curve]," explained Preziosi.

Eagle-eyed readers may also notice the size reduction of the fairing winglets, but this won't affect the bike's renowned top speed: "The aim of the changed aerodynamics is to reduce friction, therefore improving the maximum speed while reducing the lifting of the front wheel," revealed Preziosi.

Several carbon fibre frames have been developed for the Ducati Desmosedici GP11, for use on tracks with different parameters, which provide the bike with different levels of rigidity if needed. "With the chassis we have a different rigidity and torsion," continued Preziosi, "and a swingarm with a different stiffness too. We are making a new fork for Sepang, adapted to the suspension for 2011.

"In terms of electronics we are mainly working on anti-wheelie and traction control. We will be at Jerez from January 17th-19th with Franco Battaini and Vittoriano Guareschi, who will be on track."

While all these changes sound well and good, Rossi himself admits it might be a tough start to the season -- shoulder injury notwithstanding -- having said a few days before the GP11 reveal that it is "…different from all the other bikes, it's a proper prototype ... You need a bit of a 'dirtier' style to ride the Desmosedici."

Nevertheless the world's most successful MotoGP rider has already had plenty of input into the bike and Preziosi was quick to respond to questions of that nature: "[Rossi] is telling the technicians a lot of very precise information, the most surprising thing is how he is able to put everyone in a very calm mood and ready to work and analyse all the data. This is something very difficult to do when you are under pressure.

"We are also very happy because Jeremy [Burgess] and the other guys have linked very well with our guys. They have great experience and we are trying to add our experience together to make a better bike.

"I want to thank Yamaha again because they allowed Valentino to test, which was really important for us because we had a lot of priorities to work on. After that we could put them in the right order, so now we are working on the parts that we decided were priorities," concluded Preziosi.

Ducati's head honcho, GM Claudio Domenicali, was also on hand to dispense wisdom, adding: "2011 will be a year of great change. It will be the start of the third phase of our presence in MotoGP, a historic moment. To have Valentino in the team is a new aspect. Everybody knows what Valentino is capable of in terms of giving feedback for improving the bike and furthering the capacity of our project."

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