Most of the paddock remains convinced, however, that his nightmare term with the Borgo Panigale squad will end with a mutual farewell in the California sunshine next Sunday afternoon.
Melandri battled from 15th place on the first lap at Sachsenring to reach seventh after only nine laps. This was an unexpected performance from a rider who languishes in 14th place in the championship and who has already agreed to end his two-year contract with Ducati a year early.
But if he splits from Ducati after Laguna, Sete Gibernau is expected to take his place.
So will Melandri then appear at the following round at Brno with Kawasaki, who admit that they have a third bike ready to run? Everyone concerned is keeping a straight face and denying everything...
Sunday pm - Toseland’s 11th Was Actually a Cool Ride
On a day when
MotoGP heavyweights
Dani Pedrosa,
Colin Edwards,
Jorge Lorenzo and
Marco Melandri all crashed, it was an achievement just to bring the ship home in today’s rain-drenched German grand prix.
So
James Toseland should feel reasonably happy that he scored an eleventh place and five championship points, especially as it was his first race in the wet in his steep MotoGP learning year. Being a racer, though, he was taking a less upbeat view of the day’s outcome.
"The weather looked brighter and we gambled that it was going to get drier," his manager Roger Burnett said after the 30-lap rain-fest.
"So we kept a more dry-weather setting, which meant that the rear of the bike was too stiff to get maximum grip from the tyre."
That explains Toseland’s descent from fifth place at the first corner - after a bold streak from the fourth row - to his eventual finishing place, a lap down on winner
Casey Stoner.
"When Jorge Lorenzo went down I knew he was on the same tyre as me, and I opted to ride a sensible race and finish," JT said.
The outcome leaves him in ninth place in the championship with 65 points, eight behind
Nicky Hayden on the Repsol Honda and only one ahead of
Shinya Nakano on the San Carlos Honda.
Next Sunday’s US Grand Prix, on the Laguna Seca circuit that Toseland knows from his Superbike career, may bring an upturn.
Sunday pm - Laverty’s Superbike Window is Snatched Away
Only days after receiving the lifeline news that he was to get wild-card rides on a Paul Bird Honda in Britain’s World Superbike rounds at
Brands Hatch and
Donington Park, Eugene Laverty learnt today that sponsorship problems have dashed the plan.
