POSITIVE TESTS FOR STONER AND MELANDRI AT JEREZ

The Ducati Marlboro Team concluded their visit to Jerez de la Frontera on Monday with a day of tests that both Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri rated as highly positive, despite the Italian having ended the session early due to a crash.
Melandri was not seriously injured in the crash, escaping with damage to a nail on his left hand, and was just disappointed that he didn't get to complete an otherwise satisfactory day of set-up work that had only just begun to bear fruit.

Casey Stoner was much happier, however, having improved his feeling with the front and giving himself extra confidence for the next round of the season, the Grand Prix of Portugal on April 13th.

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap on race tyres - 1'40.588; with qualifying tyres - 1'39.218 (59 laps)

"We've done a few different tests on the setting and with the tyres and I'm pretty happy with how it's gone. We tried some different front tyres that gave me a better feeling than I had in the race yesterday, especially under braking, so I can say it was a really positive test. It's a bit of a shame because with just a few small changes to the set-up we had yesterday the situation has improved a lot and we could have had a much better race if we'd gone with this in the first place. The test on qualifying tyres didn't go quite as well because on the best one I ran wide in one corner and without that I would have knocked a few tenths off my best time. It has been the best day we've had at Jerez and it's left me with a good feeling going to Estoril!".

Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team), fastest lap on race tyres - 1'41.396 (32 laps)

"The day started well and we were working with some success on finding more rear grip when I lost the front and crashed on the way into the final bend. It happened suddenly and my hand got trapped underneath the handlebar. I was lucky not to break any bones in my fingers but it's still really painful because the nail on my middle finger has ripped in half. I don't think it will be a problem for Estoril though. Unfortunately we had to call time on a day that was proving to be important and positive. We had a few things still to try, including the tyre that Casey liked. The changes we've had chance to test have been good and I'm sure we're on the right track to improve my feeling with the Desmosedici"