italiaspeed.com

Ducati recently took part in the final MotoGP test of the year, at Jerez, deploying the factory's new Desmosedici GP8 in the hands of World Champion Casey Stoner and new signing Marco Melandri.

Day 1 (Tuesday Nov 27)

Conditions were warm and sunny, with temperatures around 22 degrees, allowing teams to make the most of this first day of a three-day session. Stoner was immediately very fast on the GP8, gaining a very positive impression of the new bike. The Australian went on to top the day's lap times, despite a fall in the afternoon that left him unscathed. Melandri focused on chassis set-up, finding a good direction towards the end of the day.

Casey Stoner, best lap 1m 40.221s (35 laps): "This first day with the GP8 was really positive for us. I immediately felt at home on the bike because it's pretty similar to what we rode last season. Today we were quite a bit faster than we were when we raced here back in March, which is very important because we have improved at a track that used to be a bit difficult for us. We found a very good set-up which could also be good at other circuits. We used 2007 spec tyres today, tomorrow we will start with Bridgestone's new tyres. The only bad moment of the day was the crash, but these things can happen. I'm okay though, so everything is fine."

Marco Melandri, best lap 1m 41.889s (62 laps): "We started working on chassis geometry to adapt the bike to my riding style. Today we made some good choices on settings and also some not so good choices, but every change teaches us something more about the bike which is very important. Towards the end of the day we found a set-up that I liked better, even though I don't yet feel totally at ease. We have work to do and I'm not at all worried about that."

Day 2 (Wednesday Nov 28)

Ducati Marlboro Team riders Casey Stoner and Marco Melandri continued testing at Jerez but the team's day was marred by a crash involving Stoner. The World Champion fell heavily at turn three, sustaining suspected ligament damage to his left shoulder. He was treated by Clinica Mobile staff who put his left arm in a sling, he then returned to his hotel to rest.

Melandri worked hard all day on chassis and suspension set-up, using only race tyres. By the end of the day he was happy with the set-up his crew had dialled into his Desmosedici. Tomorrow the Italian will focus on tyre testing.

Casey Stoner, 1m 40.833s (32 laps): "Everything was going very well today. We were focusing on tyre testing, as we had planned, when I crashed at turn three. I hit the ground pretty heavily with my left shoulder. Straight away the injury was really painful, so I went to the Clinica Mobile where they fitted me with a sling and strapped the shoulder. We will wait and see how I feel tomorrow but I think it's going to be difficult to continue this test."

Marco Melandri, 1m 41.424s (77 laps): "Today has been a long and tiring day but we got through a lot of work. This morning we continued working on chassis geometry, changing the weight distribution until we found a set-up I liked. Then we started on the suspension and we did a good job with that too. At that point the track temperature dropped, so we decided to postpone tyre testing until tomorrow. I'm happy with what we've done so far because my target is to understand the bike as well as possible, and if several riders hadn't used use qualifying tyres today the lap times would be closer."

Day 3 (Thursday Nov 29)

The team completed the final day of the last test session of 2007. Casey Stoner, who injured his left shoulder when he fell yesterday, was unable to ride today and instead flew home to Australia. Marco Melandri did ride and worked hard throughout the day to further improve his feeling with his Desmosedici. The Italian doesn't yet feel fully at ease on the machine but believes he has given his engineers some feedback that will enable them to make the bike feel more suitable for him when testing resumes in late January.

Marco Melandri, 1m 41.619s (68 laps): "Once again, we didn't spare ourselves today - we worked very hard until quite late. Anyway, so far I haven't found my best riding position, so I don't feel enough at ease to use the bike to its maximum potential. We made a lot of changes to the settings but when we made the bike behave better into the corner, it got worse on the exit, and vice versa. That's why we didn't do so many tyre tests, because I couldn't get the right kind of feedback. I nevertheless think I have given my technicians some useful information which will help me to feel more in tune with the bike when we start again in January."