"MOTOGP: Stoner Heads Test on GP9"

Positive DEBUT OF Desmosedici GP9 with Casey Stoner

The day after the Grand Prix of Catalunya MotoGP riders gave an opportunity to begin a two-day test, with the Ducati Marlboro Team submitting an initial output of the Desmosedici GP9 - which was originally scheduled for tomorrow Casey Stoner . With uncertain weather forecast for tomorrow, Stoner and test riders Vittoriano Guareschi and Niccolo Canepa put the machine through its steps, while Marco Melandri spent the day focusing on its GP8 and will test tomorrow.

This is a positive debut for the machine in the hands of World Champion, so much so that the whole of Australia the best time of day with 1'41 .533 tyres in qualifying.

Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) Best lap race on the tires - 1'42 .632; in qualifying - 1'41 .533

"I'm happy with the way today ha ido. The goal was to see if this new chassis concept has the potential and I would say that for now seems to be the case. We went quickly in some decent times using the same set - up as the GP8 . Nothing changed just to suit the characteristics of the GP9 and I felt an immediate improvement so that is positive. I am confident that with more time to work on it can go much faster, although it is not the current brief . We'll have time to test it during the winter. Tomorrow we'll get back on my GP8 because we have some important evidence of tyres to do. There is still much of the 2008 season left and we want to be competitive. "

Marco Melandri (Ducati Marlboro Team) Best lap times in the race - 1'44 .326

"We make a lot of testing with the electronic set-up and tyres. I found a rear tire that gives me a better feeling, but we are still far from where we need to be. We still have to find something to return to the kind of feeling I had in China. "

Filippo PREZIOSI general manager of Ducati Corse

"We have taken the decision to allow the factory riders for proof GP9, since it would have been more difficult at a later stage of development and, finally, we have had to be back in certain areas. There are some things that are possible to analyse with data on the engine or as part cycle, but other areas where it is absolutely essential to have the corridors of the views. Therefore, it is important to get your comments to understand if the decisions we have taken have been the right and to get their suggestions. we've made some changes to the cycle might seem more revolutionary than others but in reality we continue to evolve the initial concept we have designed with the GP3. Therefore, there is a change in the direction of development, but another step forward in the same direction. In the 990 seat and supports the footpegs is attached to the structure. With the 800 that are both completely separate and GP9 in the front is even more dedicated to supporting and dimensions are more limited. The fact that he has used carbon fibre in the production of the chassis is not the most important point, is simply the way is different from before. Casey's first impressions were positive. Marco Morning try and hope that his feeling with the new bike is better than the current one. "

Positive test in Montmelo ROSSI sets for the next racing streak

After claiming an important 20 points yesterday in the Grand Prix of Catalunya, Valentino Rossi and his crew were back at work today for a half day of evidence in the Montmelo circuit. Rossi shares the track with the vast majority of the network of MotoGP, while his colleague Jorge Lorenzo remains absent as he continues his recovery from Friday's accident.

Having experienced some problems during the whole weekend, the team focused largely on work through these issues during the test today and improved its package with Donington in mind. As usual there are also a lot of testing with Bridgestone tyres and Rossi set his best lap of 1'41 .857 on a qualifying tyre, a time considerably better than his time from Saturday's official qualifying session. The Italian completed 61 laps and set the second fastest time of the day, behind Casey Stoner.

The next stop for the team is Donington Park in England for the British Grand Prix on June 22.

Davide Brivio - Team Manager

"Once again we had a very positive day of testing, and has been good to have time to work through some of the problems we had over the weekend in order to fully understand what happened. He worked primarily on setting and tyres and, together with Bridgestone, we have good information that we are confident will help us over the next
two races. With the qualifying tyres we were able to improve our time Saturday, so this is also a good result. Lastly, he also worked on our starts, in order to try to improve the start of the race for us. We are satisfied with the working day and now we are waiting for the next race. "

Testing Times

1. Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati Marlboro
1'41 .533
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA) Fiat Yamaha Team
1'41 .857
3. Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda Gresini San Carlo
1'42 .039
4. James Toseland (GBR) Yamaha Tech 3
1'42 .505
5. Alex de Angelis (RSM) San Carlo Honda Gresini
1'42 .699
6. Nicky Hayden (USA) Repsol Honda
1'42 .721
7. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Alice team
1'42 .755
8. Randy De Puniet (FRA) LCR Honda MotoGP
1'42 .775
9. Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Rizla Suzuki
1'42 .782
10. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) Team Scot Jiro MotoGP
1'42 .818
11. Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha Tech 3
1'43 .127
12. Toni Elias (SPA) Alice team
1'43 .197
13. Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Repsol Honda
1'43 .552
14. John Hopkins (USA) Kawasaki Racing
1'43 .630
15. Marco Melandri (ITA) Ducati Marlboro
1'44 .326

Montmelo ': Record Lap D. Pedrosa (Honda) 2008, 1'42 .358

Montmelo ': Best Lap C. Stoner (Ducati) 2008, 1'41 .186