Ducati's Valentino Rossi, who was injured before last year's British GP, has never competed at Silverstone, although he turned about twenty laps there last year aboard an 1198 street bike when the new wing of the iconic track was inaugurated.
On Friday, the Italian will face twin assignments: better learn the wide, fast circuit, and work on his bike's setup.
"Silverstone is a great track that's difficult and quite fast. I'll start on Friday with a small handicap because unfortunately, I didn't get to race there last year," Rossi said.
"I haven't ridden a MotoGP bike there, although I did about twenty laps on an 1198 street bike. I'll have to learn the track as quickly and as well as possible, as it's very technical, with several blind spots where taking the right line is very important. Of course we'll also have to work on adjusting the bike. Anyway, we're understanding better and better how to approach the setup of the GP11, and Ducati continues working on development. There's still work to be done, but it's clear which areas we have to address and we're all focused and determined to improve."
Nicky Hayden, meanwhile, has good memories of his Silverstone debut, as he took a strong fourth-place finish and just missed out on the podium. On Wednesday, the American did a lap of honor on the Mountain Course at the Isle of Man aboard a Ducati 1198 SP.
"It's been a short week, because Barcelona was just a few days ago. After the race, I went to the Isle of Man TT, which was a great experience," Hayden said.
"Now it's time for Silverstone. We went there for the first time last year, so it's still kind of new and fresh for us. The track layout is the same, but they've changed where we enter the pits, which could make it a little different in some ways. It's a track I enjoyed a lot last year because it's big, long and fast. The pavement was a little bumpy in a couple of places, but it was perfect in other parts. I'm looking forward to it."
Main Photo: Rossi got in some laps on May 17 when the new Silverstone wing was inaugurated
