The Ducati team had a wonderful start to the 2015 season at the Qatar GP with the new GP15 bike, when Dovisioso came second and Iannoni third behind Rossi at the Losail Circuit. Rossi just pipped Dovi by less than 2 tenths of a second.

http://www.ducati.com/racing/motogp/new ... %3D.MotoGP

Brilliant race, and the new D16 looks competitive at last. I want to see them same spec as Hondas and yams when they rack up a few more podiums. Rossi not happy with Ducati advantage. Looking like a great season.

And hot on the heels of the 2 podiums came new rules backing the Ducatis down in fuel capacity. 1 step forward, 2 steps back ...

They're still allowed 2 litres more than full factory class which probably explains acceleration out of corners. Probably wouldn't have been on front row without soft tyre in qually. Ducati should forgo the concessions and race on level playing field.

I did read somewhere I thought, that the GP15 was already running 22 litres, from everything I've read, my understanding is the big thing with Ducati and running the GP15 as a "Factory Bike" with concessions was the no restrictions on the engine development, for a literally new bike you would think this is just the start of something much bigger better than before.

Fuel they can sort out as they go along during the year, getting the new motor and chassis right along with the electronics for next years rule changes (and running Michelin tyres next year as well) is the biggie, hopefully for them to be a full on contender this year and flowing on to next year.

2 races in and already fascinating.

If you don't already, have a read of David Emmett's site Motomatters.com, some excellent articles and race reports there.

The same will go for Aprilia in a year or 2, though they don't have a hill to climb, more like a sheer cliff face.

Maybe the 2 Andrea's will prove me wrong, but with some little Spanish genius and an old dog learnt new tricks between them, oh well never hurts to dream large...

For those interested, from Motomatters.com website

Some light was shed on Ducati's fuel problems at Austin as well. In an interview with the Italian sports daily Corriere dello Sport, Ducati Corse boss Gigi Dall'Igna explained that the problem was not running out of fuel, but due to cavitation preventing fuel from being pumped properly. When there is very little fuel in the tank, heat from the exhaust and engine caused the fuel temperature to rise rapidly, creating bubbles in the fuel and making it impossible to pump. The problem had been present on the GP14, and was less prominent in the GP15. The small air inlet on the left-hand side of the fairing had gone some way to mitigating the issue, taking cool air and leading it directly towards the tank, to remove the heat. But at very low speed – such as on the cool down lap after the race – it could still occur, as it did in Austin. No doubt that having just 22 liters in the tank instead of 24 made it a little more likely to happen, but the danger during the race is limited.

Full article here

https://motomatters.com/analysis/2015/0 ... up_re.html

Very interesting. Thanks!