Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Melandri optimistic of breakthrough

Melandri optimistic of breakthrough

Marco Melandri hinted at a breakthrough in his confidence on the Ducati GP8 bike after an encouraging first day of practice for the United States Grand Prix.

The Italian, whose future at Ducati Marlboro is in doubt after a torrid time this season, was fifth quickest in Friday's first free practice session. And although he dropped to 12th in the afternoon session, he feels he is close to finding a suitable set-up for himself.

"Finally we've had a 'proper' free practice - I'm pleased," said Melandri. "This morning the circuit was tricky but that was probably because of the fact it was cool, because suddenly the grip came in.

"I had a good feeling from the start with the bike, I was getting decent feedback from the tyres and that is something I've been missing a lot this year. I was able to ride well and stay on the good line. From then on we made constant progress, refining the base set-up that we used at Sachsenring. Now we need to try and continue like this over the next two days because I want a good race here."

Teammate Casey Stoner had an almost perfect day, comfortably heading the timesheets - and ominously setting his best time on the harder compound of tyre.

"This morning the track surface was a little cool but grip wasn't bad and after a few laps it was back to a normal level," said the Australian. "It took a few laps to get used to the new bumps that have emerged since last season though.

"In general the track is in good shape and I enjoyed riding because it's a fun layout and we found a good set-up pretty quickly, using the base from last year.

"In the afternoon when the track temperatures rose further we put a harder tyre on and managed to improve a little bit more, so I'm really satisfied with the first day's work."



  • Melandri upbeat after breakthrough
  • Perez quickest in practice at Croft
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