How come Stoner is 1st and Melandri - 11th ?

I think so much of it down to how the team build the bike.

I remember when KR Jnr was riding for Suzuki and there number rider, they asked him what he wanted in the bike, they give him it, he won them the championship in 2001.

Its been the same at Ducati. They have a found a little gem in Casey and there total package of rider / tyres / team & bike is just as about perfect as you are ever going to get.

His team mate Marco is really trying to ride a bike made for somebody else. Honda and Hayden were having the same problems as the new RCV212 was really made for Dani.

There is always kinks in the armour like last year at Assen or Mugello.

Casey has started the year strong, but I still feel Vale has it in to take the title again this year.

Well, you´ve missed out one possibility! There's a difference between the different riders ability to ride a certain bike.

Stoner and Ducati match up perfect, but Melandri has some paths to walk down before he will be confident in the new bike at race speed.

The same apply for Capirex on his new bike.

What's a perfect set up for one rider can be totally wrong for another. It's as easy as that ... :o)

Hi A.Nik. Its down to how good Stoner is on that bike. Capirossi Said he could not get to grips with it. he could not get the corner speed that Stoner was getting. Rossi said riding the 800s is more like riding a 250, slower on the straights but a lot faster going into the corner, so a lot quicker coming out. The upcoming 250 riders seem to go with that theory. as for Dani and Nicky. I think the body weight difference makes the Data from one rider useless to the other, creating all kinds of "what works and what doesn't" questions.

Stoner must be the difference. As the Eurosport guys were saying all weekend, you can have as much horsepower as you want, but it still wont make you fly around corners. Casey is able to manage the Ducati around the twisty sections of the circuit, wheras Marco cannot.

Give Melandri a break though, it was his first race for the team.

Melandri said he doesn't know how stoner rides the ducati like he does, which suggests he is having trouble adjusting to the bike

Without a doubt Casey is a fantastic rider, I liked him 250's. The older guys who have been in Motogp longer are finding it harder with the 800's as according to Alex Barros, they are more like a 250 or Superbike to ride (personally, I dont know this, Im just going according to his interview in MCN. It could also be sour grapes - but it does make sense). The advances in technology are also harder for them as TC used to be their right hand lol

I was glad to see Melandri up to 11th as he was lapping 2.5 seconds behine Stoner in practise and qualifying, but I would love to see him get it together and mix it up front with the rest - love his rear wheel drift (esp Philip Island last year :) )