Valentino Rossi makes his first outing with Ducati

[Polished_Handles]

its about time!

Valentino Rossi makes his first outing with Ducati | The Official MotoGP Website

[VRI46]

Cant wait until next year.......

[Polished_Handles]

mee too!

[Ozboy]

Hats off to Ducati for developing ... oh wait, that was also Stoner, for developing a bike the great Rossi would even consider riding.

Hope he wins in his debut with Ducati... just like Casey did.

[ducmon]

Hope not.

[Crazi Billy]

I agree its going to be an awesome year of racing...be great if he can win the championship on yet again a different make bike!

[shan]

You mean Stoner by that I take it

[Crazi Billy]

Nah I meant Rossi

Be good if Stoner is competitive too on a different bike...but Rossi is the king of winning on different bikes - Honda, Yamaha and hopefully now Ducati...

[The Nurse 40]

Its just always good to watch him.....
you know, talk and smile
and walk around in his brand spanking new leathers and helmet
and ride his new bike....ahhhhhhh...Watching him win on a new bike 2011....the cherry on top!


and no shan, I dont mean stoner :-)

[Evolution]

I think Rossi will be the man to watch in 2012 back on the thous. Not too confident he will do anything too special in 2011. I expect Stoner on the Hionda will do good things. Regardless it should be a cracking season of racing.

[flashpixx]

Hoping for a close season with 4 or 5 riders winning and sharing the podium.

[Polished_Handles]

my heart says rossi in 2011..... my head says stoner in 2011....

GO SPIES!

[thro]

I think rossi will be quick, and will be racing with an attitude of "make podium or bust".

The mind games are a huge part of the way he races, and maintaining the image of being fast on any bike is a huge part of that.

You can bet your arse that jeremy burgess and ducati are currently working around the clock to set the ducati up for a rider of his size, and that rossi himself is going to aim to shock first race of next season.

given that:

With his focus on the Sepang Test, which should be his second on the Desmosedici, Rossi continued: “The shoulder was much worse than we suspected and the operation lasted twice as long as was planned. The tendons which we thought were a little bit affected were in fact completely damaged. Now I have a shoulder which is like new, and I’m eager to try it out. I hope to be fit for February 1st, the first Test of 2011, and ride the Ducati.”

and

Discussing the surgery Dr Castagna said: “The operation itself had no particular problems, but we encountered a situation like at the supermarket: pay for one, get three. To give an idea of the situation it normally takes 35 minutes to stabilise a shoulder, and with Valentino it took us an hour and 50 minutes.”
“In simple terms the supraspinatus tendon and the glenoid ligament were both very damaged. We had to clean the area to prepare it for its natural healing process, and then close it with 12 stitches. The fibrocartilage surrounding the humerus was displaced so we put it back and fixed it with bio-absorbable staples. All of this was done in an area which measured a maximum of 2-3 centimetres.”

... and he was still getting podiums, then I wouldn't count him out for 2011 by any stretch.