2006 Australian Superbike Championship (YMF Loan) - Round Four - Queensland Raceway

Ducati Preview

Ducati Marlboro Team rider Loris Capirossi returns to action at Brno after MotoGP's four-week summer break partnered by Alex Hofmann. Capirossi's full-time team-mate Sete Gibernau isn't fit to contest the Czech GP following further surgery to the collarbone he broke at June's Catalan GP.

Gibernau had his left collarbone plated two days after his Catalunya accident and returned to action at the German GP in mid-July, but he struggled there and at the US GP, after which his surgeon decided that the plate was too weak, requiring another operation. Following that surgery, the Spaniard underwent a final scan today, on Wednesday August 16, when his surgeon decided that it would be too risky for him to race at Brno, so Gibernau and the team decided he should continue his convalescence and return fully fit at the Malaysian GP on September 10. D'Antin Ducati rider Hofmann will once again take Gibernau's place on his Desmosedici GP6s, having already subbed for him at the Dutch and British GPs.

SETE GIBERNAU, Ducati Marlboro Team rider, 13th overall, 58 points
"Together with the team and my surgeon we decided that the best way forward is for me to continue my recovery, because the most important thing is that I return to racing in the best possible condition, rather than just to make up the numbers. So now I will work to prepare myself to contest the last part of the championship with even more vitality and determination. Once again I want to thank my team because they have treated me like family since I first joined them, which is something I appreciate very much, especially during difficult moments like these."

ALEX HOFMANN, Ducati Marlboro Team rider, 16th overall, 21 points
"I am very happy to have the chance to contest another GP with the factory Ducati squad and I would like to thank Ducati, Pramac, D'Antin and all our sponsors for giving me this opportunity. Obviously, I feel very sorry for Sete because he's going through a difficult time. I wish him a speedy and full recovery."

LORIS CAPIROSSI, Ducati Marlboro Team rider, 5th overall, 126 points
"It is a real shame that Sete will miss this race but I hope he will be able to return in good shape for the final few races of the season. After Laguna Ingrid and I spent a few days in Miami, then in Sardinia and then home to Monaco. So now I am rested, relaxed and ready to race again. I am really looking forward to this race because I adore Brno. It's an old-style track, with fast corners and many up and down sections, much more enjoyable than some of the slow, tight circuits we go to. Also, Brno is very good for our tyres, last year it was the start of a good run of races for us and for Bridgestone and I hope it will be the same this year. Like all tracks you need a very well balanced bike for Brno because some corners you have positive camber, other corners you have negative camber. You also need a very strong engine because there are some big straights, several of them uphill."

LIVIO SUPPO, Ducati MotoGP project manager
"We go to Brno with mixed feelings. On the one hand we're sad that Sete cannot ride because we didn't expect him to have more problems with the shoulder but we must listen to the surgeons who say it's better that he doesn't ride for a few weeks. However, Sete is very determined and we are sure he will return in great shape in Malaysia, ready to turn around a difficult season.

"On the other hand we are optimistic and confident because we think we are ready to race up front again, as we did before Barcelona where Loris also got injured while he was leading the championship, because we had good form at these tracks last year. In 2005 we got two victories, one second place and two thirds at Brno, Sepang, Phillip Island and Motegi. We are also happy because Bridgestone enjoyed extraordinary success in last month's Suzuka Eight Hour race, monopolising the podium. That was a great result which proves their amazing technical capacity and I'm sure it will be a great stimulus for us all during these last few races."

THE TRACK
Brno is a masterpiece of a motorcycle racing circuit. Constructed in the mid-eighties it eschews the modern fashion of tight turns and hairpins for a mighty mix of fast sweepers and undulating corners that test rider talent and machine performance to the limit. Most riders love the place because it's challenging and also because it's pretty fast.

But Brno's most significant characteristic is its constant changes of elevation - the circuit weaves its way across forested hillsides outside the Czech Republic's second city - which means that many of the turns are steeply cambered. Dealing with negative-camber corners requires a perfectly set-up machine, deft riding skills and especially crucial input from tyre engineers. Horsepower is also a major consideration at Brno because this is one racetrack where MotoGP bikes, usually caged in by slower venues, really get moving.