Melandri IS done at Ducati.

Here is the latest words i have seen from www.autosport.com.
Maybe someone else will take over after the summerbrake and start at Brno,probarbly Gibernau.
At least till the end of this season.

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Ducati ready to discuss Melandri's future

By Michele Lostia and Pablo Elizalde Wednesday, June 25th 2008, 08:57 GMT


Ducati boss Livio Suppo says the Italian squad will discuss Marco Melandri's future at the team if he does not manage to raise his game in the next few races.

Melandri has endured a dismal season so far following his switch from Gresini Honda, and the Italian rider has scored 29 points to teammate Casey Stoner's 117.

Melandri had a nightmare race at Donington last weekend, finishing nearly a lap down on Stoner and even behind Alex de Angelis, who had fallen during the race.

The Italian rider has admitted he is ready to step aside if his performance doesn't improve, and Suppo says they will consider his future in the next races.

Ducati recently tested former GP winner Sete Gibernau, prompting speculation that the Spaniard could be in line for a return to MotoGP to replace Melandri.

"It's early to say that Marco can't go quick, that he can't at least go like he did in China," Suppo was quoted as saying by Motosprint magazine. "But it's clear that, if in the next four or five races Marco doesn't make that leap in performance, then we'll have to reason on it together.

"The test with Gibernau was born out of chance in Barcelona, when he came to us motivated to try again a MotoGP bike, and we gave him the opportunity to test ours. Besides, it's important for us too to understand how our bike really goes, since Melandri, and Elias too, are convinced that only Stoner can ride it.

"Since (test rider) Canepa goes well and considering how Sete went - his laptimes were those of an active rider - I think that Toni and Marco should now have a different approach."

Suppo said, however, that the team had not made any decisions on Gibernau yet.

"It's too early to say. We are trying to organize more tests with him, but that's a long way from saying that he will be a Ducati rider in 2009, even if just for our satellite team.

"Because it's one thing to do a test like that, but it's quite another to be part of the game again and to meet certain expectations. We told each other we'll reason on this calmly, both us and he, and then we'll see."

Melandri himself admitted he is finding it hard to think about his future.

"It's difficult for me to think about the future now. I even find difficult to think about the end of the season... But we clearly have to find a better solution for both. Thankfully there's a fine relationship between us."

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Gaz @ Jun 25 2008, 01:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>It is only my opinion so no fact to back the comment up.

But I will agree (in part), but to me a #2 is what CE was to VR and personally I do not think that MM would have allowed himself to be placed in that position. IMO if MM went to Ducati on the knowledge that he was to be #2 then really, he probably has no valid points to complain about with respects to teh quipment he is being provided (not that he has yet complained, just forum speculation and comment).

Maybe the decisive point here is just when did MM sign the Ducati contract?



Garry

#2 on a factory Ducati was much more appealing after the 2007 season than on a satelite Honda team don't you think.

So they wait 4-5 more races to see if Melandri gets on with the Ducati, that is just enough time to see if Nicky gets on with the Pneumatic Engine with Honda, then we may see an even trade

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SackWack @ Jun 25 2008, 04:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>#2 on a factory Ducati was much more appealing after the 2007 season than on a satelite Honda team don't you think.

So they wait 4-5 more races to see if Melandri gets on with the Ducati, that is just enough time to see if Nicky gets on with the Pneumatic Engine with Honda, then we may see an even trade
good point.

is it me or does it seem like the silly season starts earlier every season

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Anders GUZZI @ Jun 25 2008, 12:00 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>"The test with Gibernau was born out of chance in Barcelona, when he came to us motivated to try again a MotoGP bike, and we gave him the opportunity to test ours. Besides, it's important for us too to understand how our bike really goes, since Melandri, and Elias too, are convinced that only Stoner can ride it.
Interesting that elias and melandri seem to think there is some mystical connection between stoner and the ducati, they are talented and well-performed riders who can't really think stoner is that much better than them. Marco's travails in particular are the most unpleasant thing about this season for me.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (michaelm @ Jun 25 2008, 08:02 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>Interesting that elias and melandri seem to think there is some mystical connection between stoner and the ducati, they are talented and well-performed riders who can't really think stoner is that much better than them. Marco's travails in particular are the most unpleasant thing about this season for me.

Do you think that Stoner knows the secret to riding the bike? He just isn't giving it away to his opponents. I get the feeling that Casey is getting a big kick out of watching his teammates struggle all the while knowing what makes the bike fly. I refuse to accept that its just a mystery.

Side note: All the double standards that we see on here. Why does Marco get the free pass and Nicky gets the .... taken out of him. Its seems like they are going through similar problems.

OK, it's been bothering me for quite a while now. What the HELL is Stoner doing to make that thing go around like a rocket when Melandri and Elias, who are both FAST riders (see Melandri circa 2006, Elias in Portugal 2006) are making it look like a 50cc moped in most races. We now have a quote of Suppo saying that both Melandri and Elias are convinced that only Stoner can ride it.

Whats the secret? I reallly can't envision what it would be. Obviously I'm not a professional racer, but damn. How can there be some little trick that makes a 20 second+ difference in a race? It's mind boggling.

Why can only Stoner make it run up front?

With everything that I have read since Ducati signed Marco Melandri it would seem that Ducati would if possible make Marco the Champ and not Casey. You don't mess up a good thing right now as it is, but... I would say that they have been taking the MM info and doing what they can to get him up to speed. Why spend money on a rider when he has performed in the past? Only to let him go after a handful of races on a brand new bike? I think that if it was the choice of Ducati to pick the next Champ on a ducati it would be Marco melandri.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ThePhorest @ Jun 25 2008, 09:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>OK, it's been bothering me for quite a while now. What the HELL is Stoner doing to make that thing go around like a rocket when Melandri and Elias, who are both FAST riders (see Melandri circa 2006, Elias in Portugal 2006) are making it look like a 50cc moped in most races. We now have a quote of Suppo saying that both Melandri and Elias are convinced that only Stoner can ride it.

Whats the secret? I reallly can't envision what it would be. Obviously I'm not a professional racer, but damn. How can there be some little trick that makes a 20 second+ difference in a race? It's mind boggling.

Why can only Stoner make it run up front?

It was way more than 20 sec in the last race.


The double edge sword lies in Capirossi's lap. In 2007 Ducati knew they had something special but could not understand why Loris was only pulling middle of the pack races. I am almost certain that they chalked it up as Loris being washed out and not able to ride as good as the "new crew". I also think that Ducati thought they had a really good chance to go 1 2 in this years championship with Melandri. So Ducati lets Loris go after ignoring (I say this lightly and as a figure of speech) him the whole season about how the bike was unsuitable for him to ride. Loris picks up the Suzuki and is immediately very fast and Marco is very slow. You know the rest if the story. Now Loris must feel a little bitter sweet. Bitter at how Ducati let him go and sweet that he is on a new team and is noticeably more happy with the way his bike is running. AND he was right about the Ducati. Anyone notice Loris is still surprised at how poorly Melandri is doing
Capirossi confused by Meladri's performance

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SackWack @ Jun 25 2008, 10:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>It was way more than 20 sec in the last race.


The double edge sword lies in Capirossi's lap. In 2007 Ducati knew they had something special but could not understand why Loris was only pulling middle of the pack races. I am almost certain that they chalked it up as Loris being washed out and not able to ride as good as the "new crew". I also think that Ducati thought they had a really good chance to go 1 2 in this years championship with Melandri. So Ducati lets Loris go after ignoring (I say this lightly and as a figure of speech) him the whole season about how the bike was unsuitable for him to ride. Loris picks up the Suzuki and is immediately very fast and Marco is very slow. You know the rest if the story. Now Loris must feel a little bitter sweet. Bitter at how Ducati let him go and sweet that he is on a new team and is noticeably more happy with the way his bike is running. AND he was right about the Ducati. Anyone notice Loris is still surprised at how poorly Melandri is doing
Capirossi confused by Meladri's performance



There was a comment somewhere from another poster which may well have summed it all up (I am paraphrasing).

The comment simply said something like, just because CS is #1, does not mean that the bike is any better than mid pack. This may well be the simple truth of it all.

It may well be the proof that CS is a special talent and seems fully backed up by the ever growing list of riders who cannot get along with the machine.





Garry

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ThePhorest @ Jun 25 2008, 10:28 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>OK, it's been bothering me for quite a while now. What the HELL is Stoner doing to make that thing go around like a rocket when Melandri and Elias, who are both FAST riders (see Melandri circa 2006, Elias in Portugal 2006) are making it look like a 50cc moped in most races. We now have a quote of Suppo saying that both Melandri and Elias are convinced that only Stoner can ride it.

Whats the secret? I reallly can't envision what it would be. Obviously I'm not a professional racer, but damn. How can there be some little trick that makes a 20 second+ difference in a race? It's mind boggling.

Why can only Stoner make it run up front?
Dude, that is the millions dollar question. And if Stoner could verbalize it, do you think he should or would tell anyone? I wouldn't; assuming he even knows what it is.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Gaz @ Jun 25 2008, 11:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>There was a comment somewhere from another poster which may well have summed it all up (I am paraphrasing).

The comment simply said something like, just because CS is #1, does not mean that the bike is any better than mid pack. This may well be the simple truth of it all.

It may well be the proof that CS is a special talent and seems fully backed up by the ever growing list of riders who cannot get along with the machine.





Garry
stoner is a special talent on that bike ! he could have gone on the yamaha instead of the duc and gone the way of marco capi barros ect on the duc. a match made in heaven. some riders can jump on anything and ride it fast but it's rare !

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Gaz @ Jun 25 2008, 03:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The comment simply said something like, just because CS is #1, does not mean that the bike is any better than mid pack. This may well be the simple truth of it all.

It may well be the proof that CS is a special talent and seems fully backed up by the ever growing list of riders who cannot get along with the machine.
What? Stoner just might be a 'good' rider? Get the .... outta here. I like your style, you are contributing to the ongoing conflict. Ah, this will really fuel the war. Thanks.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SackWack @ Jun 25 2008, 10:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>It was way more than 20 sec in the last race.


The double edge sword lies in Capirossi's lap. In 2007 Ducati knew they had something special but could not understand why Loris was only pulling middle of the pack races. I am almost certain that they chalked it up as Loris being washed out and not able to ride as good as the "new crew". I also think that Ducati thought they had a really good chance to go 1 2 in this years championship with Melandri. So Ducati lets Loris go after ignoring (I say this lightly and as a figure of speech) him the whole season about how the bike was unsuitable for him to ride. Loris picks up the Suzuki and is immediately very fast and Marco is very slow. You know the rest if the story. Now Loris must feel a little bitter sweet. Bitter at how Ducati let him go and sweet that he is on a new team and is noticeably more happy with the way his bike is running. AND he was right about the Ducati. Anyone notice Loris is still surprised at how poorly Melandri is doing
Capirossi confused by Meladri's performance
I think Loris is surprised because Melandri doesn't seem to have as much motivation as he expect from him,and they know each other well,but i don't know,i don't know anyone of the two.
Loris was on average about 1sec.off Stoners pace on fridays and after almost rebuilding the bike at every circuit till sunday ,trying everything,he was about 0,5-1,0seconds off in the races.Melandri has been way slower than that on average.
As Livio Suppo has said himself,they had wanted Melandri for a long time,so maybe Loris thought they would know what to expect from him on a Ducati a little better than they did.

Didn't someone with some insight say last year that Stoner used very wierd and unusual set up?
I don't know if it was Loris or someone in the team.And i suppose it was the chassi set up.
Melandri has said that Stoner uses alot of tractioncontrol and he is trusting it.
As i have said here before ,when Randy Mamola had tested the 2006 GP bikes,he said the Ducati TC was different from the others.He said ,on every one of the other bikes you can feel the TC kicking in and working but the Duc.TC felt like there was none.But ofcourse it was.And it did a great job he said so you really have to trust it.(this is from a swedish magazine so i can't give you a link).
I don't think there is something special with Stoners bike compared to Melandris,i think Stoners preferences/set up/ridingstyle is the special thing,so Melandri isn't getting much help from him with the set up as he has a different ridingstyle.
So someone with the ridingstyle of Stoner who really trusts chassi, tires,especially the TC and the team of Ducati is someone to look for,in the long run.
Maybe Elias and Melandri didn't even use that much of TC at Gresini and what they used they could feel very easiely.
My wildest guess who would fit as a teammate to Stoner would be a factory Aprillia 250 rider with tallent.(250 ridingstyle with some TC experience.)
But then again someone like that would probarbly have to go through the Alice team for a season first.
Maybe Ben Spies?i don't know his style because i don't have access to AMA on theTV.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (roger-m @ Jun 25 2008, 03:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>stoner is a special talent on that bike ! he could have gone on the yamaha instead of the duc and gone the way of marco capi barros ect on the duc. a match made in heaven. some riders can jump on anything and ride it fast but it's rare !
Yeah Rog, you tell him. That is why Casey 'really' sucks--because he only can win on the Duc...

(I'm almost certain Stoner would have sucked on a Jap bike as you say, which would have proved he can only be fast on something that 'suits' him, unlike the other guy you are alluding to who was fast on brands that have 'only' managed to win almost 'all' of the titles in the last 30 years).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SackWack @ Jun 25 2008, 02:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>The double edge sword lies in Capirossi's lap. In 2007 Ducati knew they had something special but could not understand why Loris was only pulling middle of the pack races. I am almost certain that they chalked it up as Loris being washed out and not able to ride as good as the "new crew". I also think that Ducati thought they had a really good chance to go 1 2 in this years championship with Melandri. So Ducati lets Loris go after ignoring (I say this lightly and as a figure of speech) him the whole season about how the bike was unsuitable for him to ride. Loris picks up the Suzuki and is immediately very fast and Marco is very slow. You know the rest if the story. Now Loris must feel a little bitter sweet.
Great insight Sacky. Excellent thoughts!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (roger-m @ Jun 25 2008, 11:35 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>stoner is a special talent on that bike ! he could have gone on the yamaha instead of the duc and gone the way of marco capi barros ect on the duc. a match made in heaven. some riders can jump on anything and ride it fast but it's rare !

I know that CS is a special talent and I fully expect that he will win more races and titles, so no need for ti to be reinforced in my mind.

The post was more a rhetorical questions as many seem to be looking at why MM is (perceived to be) underachieving on a bike that CS has no problems with instead of saying that maybe MM is achieving what the bike truly deserves (or at least near to what the bike deserves)


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Jumkie @ Jun 25 2008, 11:41 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>What? Stoner just might be a 'good' rider? Get the .... outta here. I like your style, you are contributing to the ongoing conflict. Ah, this will really fuel the war. Thanks.

Seriously not trying to fuel any conflict but I genuinely did like the comment made by the other poster (and mentioned above) above the possibility that the Ducati is nothing more than a mid pack bike and the difference is all CS.

Basically, we are measuring MM against CS' results when perhaps he should be measured against those of the other Dukes to get a better indication.






Garry

What the hell are you all smoking, "Loris couldn't ride the Ducati"!!!! He did win a race last year, and he was the only one (other than Troy B. wildcard win) to have succes on the duck with the 990's.

Ducati should have kept Loris one more year. I believe I have said that last year, but I did think Marco would have done better than Loris this year.

I must add Loris also had two 2nd's and 1 3rd. Loris couldn't ride the Duck, my ....

i believe that if the 990's were still around, loris would have been with ducati and Stoner would not be as good on a 990 ducati. Stoner is superb on the 800. I don't why hes so good on that bike. But evertime they talk about new electronics, Stoner is flying..

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Traverser @ Jun 25 2008, 03:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>What the hell are you all smoking, "Loris couldn't ride the Ducati"!!!! He did win a race last year, and he was the only one (other than Troy B. wildcard win) to have succes on the duck with the 990's.

Ducati should have kept Loris one more year. I believe I have said that last year, but I did think Marco would have done better than Loris this year.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Traverser @ Jun 25 2008, 03:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}><div class='quotemain'>I must add Loris also had two 2nd's and 1 3rd. Loris couldn't ride the Duck, my ....

I think that you missed my point in my post. I never said that he couldn't ride it. I said middle of the pack races. His win was the wet dry thing so I aint going to say he rode the .... out of his bike. You account for 4 races, what about the other races where was he. The next question is where was his teammate. I could go and dig up quotes from Loris last year saying he couldn't quite get the bike dialed in for himself, but you remember this right? I guess the more acurate way of saying it is, He couldn't ride the bike like his teammate. Same story this year for Ducati.

If you actually read my post its defending Loris. I think that Ducati got rid of Loris for the wrong reasons. We can look back now and agree that Loris was doing one hell of a job on that Ducati, specially after we see the likes of Melandri and Elias struggling.