A lot has been wr♕itten about Valentino Rossi's performance on his Ducati debut at last month's Valencia test, when the Italian was just 15th fastest out of the 17 riders.

In truth, no-one but Rossi (who is not yet able to speak publically about his new bike) knows how hard he was pushing, or how much his injured shouldꦬer - for which he has since undergone surgery - was bothering him.

Nevertheless, we thought it would be interesting to look back at the previous factory Ducati debuts of Cas♏ey Stoner, Marco Melandri and Nicky Hayden.

Like🎶 Rossi, all three also undertook their first 800cc Desmosedici laps during a post-race test session at Valencia.

This is how each rider got on at their first test and, for reference, what t🌳hey then went on to achiev🔥e during the following race season.

Casey Stoner's debut: Valencia - November 2006
End of test position: 3rd
Time to first place: 0.280sec
Position among Ducati riders: 1st
Time to top Ducati: 0sec (0.07sec quicker than Loris Capirossi)
Results in 2007: 10 wins, 14 podiums, 1st in World Championship

Marco Melandri's debut: Valencia - November 2007
End of test position: 13th
Time to first place: 1.740sec
Position among Ducati riders: 4th
Time to top Ducati: 1.740sec (Stoner)
Results in 2008: 0 wins, 0 podiums, 17th in World Championship

Nicky Hayden's debut: Valencia - November 2008*
Day one test position: 12th
Time to first place: 1.496sec
Position among Ducati riders: 2nd
Time to top Ducati: 1.496sec (Stoner)
Results in 2009: 0 wins, 1 podium, 13th in World Championship

* Day one results used due tജo rain on day two. Hayden was fas𒁏test of seven riders that rode in the wet on day two.

Valentino Rossi's debut: Valencia - November 2010
End of test position: 15th
Time to first place: 1.695sec
Position among Ducati riders: 5th
Time to top Ducati: 1.178sec (Hayden)
Results in 2011: ?