Ducati & Bridgestone continue development

In a one-day test at Mugello
The Ducati Marlboro Team got straight back to work at Mugello today following Loris Capirossi's superb second-place finish in yesterday's thrilling Italian Grand Prix.

After celebrating the stirring rides of Capirossi and team-mate Sete Gibernau last night, the team, its engineers and riders continued development work with the Desmosedici GP6.

Capirossi and Gibernau started testing at noon, after the track had been thoroughly cleaned following yesterday afternoon's massive post-race crowd invasion. They were forced to stop work earlier than expected, when rain began falling at 4pm.

The pair focused primarily on testing Bridgestone tyres, splitting the workload between them, Capirossi focusing on evaluating different compounds while Gibernau concentrated on trying different constructions. The Italian and Spaniard also continued detail work on set-up, the development and evolution of the GP6 a non-stop process.

Capirossi rode 44 laps, with a best of 1m 50.77s, while Gibernau completed 54 laps, with a best of 1m 50.70s.

The Ducati Marlboro Team returns to action next week at the Catalan GP outside Barcelona, where the seventh race of the 17-event MotoGP World Championship will take place on June 18.

Temperatures:

Ambient: 25 degrees

Track: 35 degrees

Mugello - 05/06/06 (unofficial lap times)
1. Marco Melandri - Fortuna Honda - 1m 49.80s (64 laps)
2. Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 1m 50.01s (73 laps)
3. Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 1m 50.54s (53 laps)
4. Colin Edwards - Camel Yamaha - 1m 50.
65s (37 laps)
5. Valentino Rossi - Camel Yamaha - 1m 50.67s (24 laps)
6. Makoto Tamada - Konica Minolta Honda - 1m 50.71s (38 laps)
7. Sete Gibernau - Ducati Marlboro - 1m 50.72s (54 laps)
8. John Hopkins - Rizla Suzuki - 1m 50.73s (48 laps)
9 Loris Capirossi - Ducati Marlboro - 1m 50.73s (44 laps)
10. Kenny Roberts Jr - Team Roberts - 1m 50.80s (45 laps)
11. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki - 1m 50.90s (45 laps)
12. Shinya Nakano - Kawasaki Racing - 1m 51.43s (54 laps)
13.Toni Elias - Fortuna Honda - 1m 51.69s (52 laps)
14. Alex Hofmann - Pramac d'Antin - 1m 53.4s (34 laps)
15. José Luis Cardoso - Pramac d'Antin - 1m 53.6 (33 laps)

Michael Schumacher rides Ducati two-seater

With Randy Mamola!
F1 racing's most successful rider Michael Schumacher experienced a new kind of thrill yesterday, riding round Mugello aboard the Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici two- seater.
The seven-time World Champion rode two laps of the high-speed circuit behind former GP winner Randy Mamola, after several other guests had taken their turn, including the reigning Miss Italy, Edelfa Masciotta.

"It was very impressive! Impressive is about the only word I can find at the moment," smiled Schumi, a keen street rider who has already piloted a Desmosedici here during private tests, just to satisfy his own curiosity. "It was a very special experience, obviously very different to what I'm used to, different even to riding here on the Desmosedici last winter. On a bike you feel the speed more, you feel the machine moving around more, which is very different from a car, when you're inside and feel more protected. Plus, when you are riding with someone, you don't know what's going to happen and that makes it very interesting!"

"The fact that I wasn't in control was what made it particularly impressive," explained Michael Schumacher.
"I patted Randy on the back a couple of times to remind him that I've got the Silverstone F1 GP next week! It was a spectacular experience but now I have ridden a MotoGP bike myself and ridden the two-seater, I think I have done enough, I'm not planning to become a bike racer myself!"

Masciotta, unlike Schumacher riding a racetrack for the first time in her life, was stunned by her experience. "Randy was fantastic, he gave me total confidence before the ride," said Masciotta, 21, from Turin. "By the end of the ride I had no more strength in my arms, because riding was very physically demanding. But the ride was wonderful, I'm still trembling. This was the first time I've ever been on a racetrack and it's an experience I will never forget. The biggest things for me were the speed and the corners..."

Local hero Rossi wins again

Hayden shares points lead
Valentino Rossi (Camel Yamaha Team YZR-M1-Michelin) secured a crucial victory in sensational style at Mugello yesterday afternoon, winning a titanic battle with Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro Team Desmosedici) and Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda Team RC211V- Michelin) to claw back valuable World Championship points after a run of ill luck.
Rossi beat Capirossi by half a second to secure his fifth consecutive home-race success, Hayden another two tenths back in third spot. Michelin riders filled seven of the first nine finishing positions with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team RC211V-Michelin) taking fourth place, just two seconds behind the winner, and Marco Melandri (Fortuna Honda RC211V-Michelin) finishing sixth, another second behind Pedrosa.

With six of 17 rounds done, Hayden shares the championship points lead with Capirossi on 99 points while Rossi sits in fifth spot, 34 points down on the leaders.

"That was a great race, very entertaining for everyone and faster than last year's by a whisker," said Nicolas Goubert, Michelin's director of motorcycle racing.
"We also had strength in depth with seven of the top nine riders using our tyres. Valentino's pace was very consistent, plus he had enough grip to make the difference over the last lap. He rode a great race and it was good to see Nicky up front again, he's strong everywhere this year. Valentino chose different tyres from our other top finishers but he chose what was right for his bike and for his riding style."

"The Hondas also seemed very well suited to their tyres choices, Kenny Roberts Junior (Team Roberts KR211V-Michelin) enjoying an excellent ride in front of many factory bikes. It was also nice to see that another great Italian rider, Max (Biaggi, Repsol Honda RC211V-Michelin), still holds the lap record from last year!" concluded Nicolas Goubert.

Valentino Rossi cools prospect of future F1 switch

Cars on the agenda but probably not F1
Valentino Rossi is already cooling speculation that he might try to switch to F1 in the future.
The MotoGP champion, who at Mugello returned to winning ways at the weekend, recently turned his back on rumours of a four-wheeled debut by vowing to race bikes again in 2007.

But by signing only a one-year contract with Yamaha, 27-year-old Rossi might be seen to have left the door to the F1 paddock wide open.

He told a press conference in Italy: "In the future I am sure I will do car racing, but maybe not F1."

The flamboyant Italian rider, however, insisted that his tests for Ferrari were genuine, but admitted: "I can go fast with cars, but it would not have been easy to win."

A Rossi 'source', meanwhile, told Motorcycle News: "Valentino realised (at his test at Valencia) that the driver is nothing in Formula One."