DUCATI MARLBORO TEAM BOUNCE BACK TO FORM IN CHINA
 The
Grand Prix of China saw both Ducati Marlboro Team riders return
to the top five as Casey Stoner clinched third place and Marco
Melandri produced his best performance of the season with
a battle to fifth.
Stoner had hoped to be more involved in the battle for victory
but a dramatic change in the track conditions led to a different
tyre choice than in practice, which limited the Australian's
performance. However, the podium is still a positive finish
to the weekend for the World Champion, who remains fourth
in the championship.
Marco Melandri worked hard all weekend to improve his feeling
with the bike and his efforts bore fruit today with an exciting
charge through the pack that led him to a merited fifth place,
providing a timely confidence boost ahead of the return to
Europe.
CASEY STONER (Ducati Marlboro Team) 3rd
"I'm disappointed to be honest because I know we could
have done better today. The bike has worked really well in
practice and we thought we had the ideal set-up for today
but we changed a couple of things and for one reason or another
the package just wasn't as good as before. I made a good start
and I was happy with that but even in the first corner I couldn't
get the bike turned, Colin Edwards came past me, and that
was the story of the race. As the race wore on my lap times
improved but it was too little too late and in any case it
wouldn't have been enough for me to stick with the lead guys.
I'm disappointed this has happened today - not so really for
third place which is a good result but for the big gap from
the lead. I know we can do much better so we will put this
behind us, wipe the slate clean and try to do better next
time out."•
MARCO MELANDRI - (Ducati Marlboro Team) 5th
"This was an important day - I think I did the best
race possible and in general fifth place isn't bad. The team
have done a great job, we've found a much better balance with
the bike and the changes Ducati have made to the traction
control allow me to have a much better feel for the engine.
Things had started to look up yesterday and today we confirmed
it. I got a good start, put my rhythm together and was able
to get into some decent times. It was good fun and now I finally
feel like I can ride my Ducati. Filippo (Preziosi) has always
worked so hard to help me and now I hope we can continue in
this direction. Spirits are high now and I can't wait for
the next race."
LIVIO SUPPO Ducati MotoGP Project leader
"This was a great team performance, with both our riders
in the top five and three Ducatis in the top eight. This is
very satisfying after two difficult races. Unfortunately Casey
wasn't able to go as well as he did in practice, mainly because
of the change in temperature that led us to make a gamble
with tyre choice, so even if a podium is a decent result,
it is less than we'd hoped for, mostly because of the gap
from the lead. We have to keep working to repeat the level
of performance we showed here in practice and with more hard
work from our mechanics and the brilliant relationship we
have with Bridgestone we will achieve that. We're also delighted
with Marco, who has made an incredible step forward. I always
said that we hadn't lost faith in him and I'm sure his season
will start here."
|
