[More Pictures]

Tuesday, 19th February 2008

Marco Melandri's torrid winter continued at the official Jerez test, which the new Ducati Marlboro rider finished in just 14th position out of the full 2008 MotoGP rider line-up.

Melandri continued to work hard with his crew to improve the feeling with the rear end of his bike, although he was unable to find the ideal setting for this track and was left 2.4secs from fastest man Nicky Hayden and 1.5ses behind team-mate Casey Stoner.

Things were little better on race tyres, with Melandri ranked 13th during the final day.

"I can't deny that I was hoping to do better here but the continual changes in weather and track conditions haven't helped," explained the Italian. "At the moment we're struggling to find a good balance for the rear of the bike so I don't have the confidence to make the most out of the power.

Advertisement

"This circuit in particular is also probably not the most favourable for us but we still have to improve. Hopefully we can do that in Qatar, where a night test will provide something of the unknown for everybody," he added.

Prior to Monday, the former MotoGP World Championship runner-up had been 13th during day one and tenth fastest during the wet BMW award.

Related Images

[Top of Article]