VOL. 53 ISSUE 9 MARCH 8, 2016 P37
PETRUCCI TO MAKE
THE QATAR GREEN
LIGHT
D
anilo Petrucci, who suffered bad right-hand
injuries at the Phillip Island MotoGP tests just
over two weeks ago, will start the opening round
at Qatar, thanks to a specially designed brace for
his wrist and hand.
He is the only MotoGP rider to fall foul of injury
during the tests, and he missed the Qatar outing
while still recuperating.
The Octo-Pramac rider had been fastest on the
opening day at Phillip Island, but fractured four
bones in his hand the next day. The injury was op-
erated on in Melbourne, and when the Italian flew
home, Italian doctors designed the prosthetic,
which fits inside a specially altered glove.
He has been doing physiotherapy on mocked-
up Ducati handlebars, and told Italian website
GPOne "I will be able to ride."
Michael Scott
SEAMLESS SHIFT NOW BOTH WAYS FOR TEAM SUZUKI
S
uzuki full-time riders Maver-
ick Vinales and Aleix Espar-
garo finally got a first chance to
try the GSX-RR's new both-ways
seamless-shift gearbox—but
only on the last of three days of
testing.
By then Vinales had already
set his best time, while Esparga-
ro spoiled his day with a crash.
For the first two days, only
test rider Takuya Tsuda had
been using the transmission, as
they continued to test reliability.
For Vinales, the gearbox was
"another big improvement. I
couldn't try a time attack with it,
but it has a lot of potential. We
need to work on it for finaliza-
tion, and I hope we can use it in
the race."
This is another link in the
chain for the smallest of the
Japanese factory teams in an
increasingly respectable drive to
become fully competitive in its
second year back.
The second-year GSX-RR
has improved in several areas
from last year and also during
the course of the tests, as the
team gains familiarity with the
new electronics. Most sig-
nificantly, the engine power is
much closer to the class lead-
ers, though as Vinales said, "our
engine still has some room for
improvement."
Michael Scott
There's more room
for improvement,
but Suzuki is now
on equal footing
with Yamaha,
Honda and Ducati.
