Wednesday, 24 November 2010
The MotoGP team’s Technical Director analyses the recently concluded season and also gives a glimpse into how he believes 2011 could shape up in a feature interview.
Fabiano Sterlacchini on Pramac’s campaign
For Fabiano Sterlacchini, Technical Director of Pramac Racing, the 2010 season was one which did not live up to expectations but the Italian highlighted the efforts of riders Mika Kallio and Aleix Espargaró in working towards improving their respective results throughout the campaign.
“Honestly we expected a little bit better because in 2009 Mika was Rookie of the Year, and we also raised our performance level for 2010,” explained Sterlacchini in the attached video interview. “We have to consider the overall situation as well though. At Jerez (seventh from 17th on the starting grid) we had the best result of the season for the team, and we expected that to be the base for a good season. But then immediately after at Le Mans we had a crash (in FP2) and Mika then had problem with his shoulder. We can say the season was more or less compromised in a way there. From a technical point of view with a different engine it changed the equilibrium of the bike a little bit as well as the balance, and we struggled with Mika to find the right tuning for him.”
Reviewing team-mate Aleix Espargaró’s campaign, Sterlacchini said: “Aleix is a really good talent. Unfortunately for him he fell quite often and this made it quite difficult. When you have this problem you can’t find the limit and manage it. It’s normal in the mind of the rider that when they fall they struggle a bit in the next race. It’s not the best way to develop. We had some really good results, but the one thing missing was a good qualifying because it’s so strong out there and if you start at the back of the grid it’s very difficult to overtake. For that reason we probably could have done better.”
In 2011 Sterlacchini expects the pairing of Randy de Puniet and Loris Capirossi, who both have a wealth of experience in the premier class behind them, as well as the arrival of Valentino Rossi in the factory team to have a marked impact.
“I’m optimistic because next year we will have experienced riders and I think they are quite suitable for this kind of bike,” he said. “They have a lot of experience in MotoGP, which is very important. What we saw with Aleix and Mika is that a rider that comes from 250cc struggles with the completely different riding style. I believe for next season we have the maximum support from Ducati as usual, but also a nine-time World Champion in Valentino Rossi who will develop the bike for us.”
“There's no reason to panic, despite Valentino's unusual test results," Burgess was quoted as saying. “Everything was new for Valentino as it was for myself and my team. The Ducati reacts differently, so this is a time to be handled with calmness by us too, just to understand things. After years of Japanese bikes, and seven seasons at Yamaha, for Valentino to get on the Ducati was a sort of culture shock. Everyone likes to be at the top of the timesheets, after every test session, but I knew Valentino would get on the track to do a different job: he wanted to ride to understand the bike, not to do record laps.”
