Melandri given a lifeline
July 28th, 2008Livio Suppo has “let slip” on the Desmoblog (the official Ducati motorsport competition blog) that Marco Melandri will be riding for the MotoGP team in Brno.
This is probably in recognition of the effort Melandri has put in, both in Germany and at Laguna Seca. In Laguna he was top 10 in the times throughout the weekend and was fairing well in the race before running wide at turn 1 and tripping through the gravel.
This probably means that, if Marco manages to keep this effort and improvement up, he will last in the Ducati seat until the end of the season. Why should Ducati take the risk of replacing him with Canepa or Gibernau with no guarantee of improvement? The pressure on these guys would be enormous and, should they fail, the embarrassment for Ducati would be great. The chance that they could do better than Melandri are slim; reference the performances of Elias and Guintoli this year on the sister bike.
For what it’s worth, Melandri deserves this chance to get it right on the bike before he departs at the end of the season. He has worked endlessly, and although he had a defeatist attitude before Sachsenring, he seems to have turned this around. Now it is time for him to put the bike in the top five and prove his doubters wrong.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Top five what? Best gravel traps?
I think Marco’s had his chance. He’s gone relatively quickly for a brief period of time in the last couple of races but then immediately chucked it. I don’t think Marco will ever get to grips with the Bologna Bullet. Guintoli has been outperforming him for the last several races. Elias blows hot and cold as ever.
July 29th, 2008 at 11:19 pm
Like it Jimmy. Best gravel traps indeed.
I think Marco’s done just enough to prevent Suppo risking further embarrassment. After all, if he puts Gibernau on the bike (assuming this was ever an option) and he fails miserably, it’s really got to be down to the bike hasn’t it? We could then ask the question: how much better would Casey be going if he had decent machinery?
It may be best the Bologna team stick with the devil they know and work on a more rideable GP9 with Sete’s help - especially now we are past the half way point in the season.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
Yeah, I think the thing with the current Ducati is that it’s fundamentally lightning quick, but it’s completely unrideable. Casey’s somehow riding the thing, I don’t think even he knows how, it’s just natural talent. But if they make the Ducati more rideable, will it still be as quick?