This weekend’s British Grand Prix, 12th round of the 2013 MotoGP World Championship, will close a series of three rounds in a row — after Indianapolis and Brno — that so far hasn’t been that lucky for the Ducati Team.
In the previous races, Nicky Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso found themselves battling each other all alone in the middle of the group, fighting for the bone left behind by the seemingly far superior Japanese prototypes.
Chances are that we will see the same sad display in Silverstone, the longest track on the MotoGP calendar, but the notoriously unstable British weather could eventually help them to find a much needed good result.
Andrea Dovizioso is scheduled to make his 100th career MotoGP race start this weekend, and is also well aware that it would take a miracle to celebrate that with a podium or something like that.
Nonetheless, the Italian tries to stay positive:“Silverstone is a very strange and unusual track, but it’s also quite nice.
We know that the English weather can be a bit difficult for everyone, and when it rains, those really aren’t the perfect conditions for riding a bike! Still, I’m happy that we’re going to race at Silverstone right away, just one week after Brno.
Once again, we don’t expect to have many updates, but we’ll try to do our best anyway.
” Nicky Hayden calls himself a fan of the Northamptonshire track, but like his teammate he is perfectly aware that the race weekend that lies in front of him will be as tough as the most recent ones:“Silverstone is a track that I’ve really enjoyed on the Ducatis.
I had a good pace there last year, but I was just too hard on the tyres in the race.
We’re going there at a different time in the season, so we’ll see if we get a warmer surface than we’ve had the last couple years.
I like the track.
It’s very long and very fast.
Although Silverstone is normally a great GP, we know it won’t be easy for us, as we can’t expect a lot to change since we’re arriving directly from Brno.
We certainly hope to be able to fight closer to the front than we’ve been able to in these last couple races.
I’m looking forward to getting there, getting on the track, and going back to work.
”As usual, team manager Vittoriano Guareschi is the one that has to keep up the morale as well as the concentration of the squad despite the lack of results and, ultimately, hope for any improvement:“At Silverstone, as at Brno, we must continue working hard as we try to improve our performance.
It’s another track where we can gather a lot of data.
Although we obviously have to keep trying to do well in the races, we also need to learn from everything that happens during the race weekends.
I know the riders will try to do their best like always, as will the rest of the team.
” © Photo Getty Images – All Rights Reserved
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