Ducati Desmosedici GP9 carbon fibre frame

Indeed, there has not been a session since where the GP9 has attended, that it has not been dominant.

In the first preseason test at Sepang in Malaysia, Stoner was best with a 2.01’043, narrowly ahead of Valentino Rossi 's 2.01’137

In the Qatar pre-season session, Stoner delivered a clear message with a time of 1:55.744, nearly a full second better than next-best Jorge Lorenzo with a 1:56.733 and a full 1.2 seconds better than his rival Valentino Rossi on 1:56.972.

At the final Jerez MotoGP official Test, where a new BMW sports car was up for grabs for the fastest, Stoner again blitzed everyone with an incredible lap in tricky conditions. Rain clouds threatened to dampen the atmosphere at the first seriously competitive action of the 2009 MotoGP season, but the Ducati Marlboro Team rider lit up the 45-minute shootout by registering a stunning 1'38.646 lap before the showers came and brought the practice to an abrupt end, smashing the existing circuit lap record by nearly 1.5 seconds. It was an incredibly encouraging result and beyond even Ducatis' lofty expectations, causing him to comment, “I really don't know where that fast lap came from, especially at this track where I've never even been on the podium before! It's been something of a bogey track for myself and the Ducati.”

Having topped all three pre-season tests, two of them comprehensively, Stoner was clearly in awesome form going into Qatar, with perhaps only a question over the strength of his wrist, which was operated on last November, and whether it would hold out over a race distance. His speed was without question though as he topped every session and led from flag to flag. Though at one stage

Ducati is building itself a formidable reputation for innovation and technological excellence. Its desmodromic valve system, traction control and now carbon fibre frame have all been revolutionary in motorcycle design and it is to be applauded for its efforts. The carbon fibre frame of the Ducati is the brain child of Alan Jenkins, who previously worked in Formula 1 for McLaren, Footwork, Stewart and Prost as well as for Penske in Indycar Racing. Jenkins has championed development of the carbon fibre frame which has led Ducati away from its traditional trellis frame for the first time.

Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati Corse, announced the company's commitment to the 2009 season back at the beginning of January, briefly assessing the 2008 season for the Ducati Marlboro Team. “Last season was certainly exciting, with some great moments for us and others that were obviously difficult. When you look at the numbers we won six races, set pole position on nine occasions and set the fastest lap in eight races. If it wasn’t for probably the best Valentino ever, coming back from two difficult seasons and rediscovering the strength to have an exceptional season, those numbers would have surely added up to a successful defence of the world title. When you consider these excellent results and the fact that Casey (Stoner) is still only 23 years old, with plenty of potential to improve even more, once the disappointment is out of the way we can’t be anything but satisfied with 2008 and confident about the season to come.”

He continued: “For 2009 we have many new things, starting with the bike: the GP9 is characterised by a major change in the chassis, with the switch from the traditional Ducati steel trellis chassis with a carbon fibre frame that brings the upper part of the engine up to the level of the steering column. It is a change we have thought about and tested for a long time, firstly with Vittoriano (Guareschi), who is always our first point of reference. He gave his approval to the new system and then the official riders tested it at Barcelona. We won the MotoGP World Championship with the trellis frame so it clearly a very effective design but we have been looking to take another step forward that can help us overcome some of the problems we’ve had, specifically with the MotoGP bike. Amongst the other updates on the GP9 one of the most relevant is an evolution of the engine management system, with a new combination of airbox and mapping that should provide a flatter power curve and improve rideability, as well as improving outright power, which currently remains more or less the same as last year.

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