Suggestions that the 800cc machines are too easy to ride fell on deaf ears over at Ducati and Kawasaki, where riders who were expected to do a great deal better are struggling
The worst off is Marco Melandri, former 250 champion and five times a MotoGP winner on a Honda. After switching to Ducati he has slumped even further down than in his bad years with the downbeat (pre-Rossi) Yamaha team, qualifying plumb last for the Spanish GP after crashing in the qualifying session.
“It was a strange crash. I wasn’t pushing very hard and the front just folded,” said the Italian, whose confidence crisis had taken another turn for the worse. “I know this is not my level – something’s not right. We have to find a solution. I’m not happy, but this is what we have to deal with at the moment.”
Ducati project leader Livio Suppo remained baffled, with his new factory rider qualifying even slower than the two satellite-team bikes of Elias and Guintoli, also on the back row. “It seems our bike is very sensitive,” he said.
Kawasaki are having to exercise patience also with Anthony West, who at least saw some improvement at Jerez after being way at the back at Qatar. Qualifying ahead of the Ducatis proved he had picked up some pace.
“Qualifying has given us some inspiration as we've managed to slash our times by a huge amount,” he said. “The rest of the field is within our grasp now.”
Team chief Michael Bartholemy was conciliatory. “Anthony has never been educated in a factory team, and he needs to learn a lot. It was sure this year he was not going to the podium. The thing is, he was always a fighter and we did not see that at Qatar. That is the biggest issue.
“But we’ve never thought for a second about changing to another rider. Our thinking is: how can we help him?” he said.
