Ducati returns to scene of glory

From Marlboro Ducati

After seeing Casey Stoner take a valuable podium in Sunday's Grand Prix of Italy, where Marco Melandri also made progress in the race before being forced off track by a crash for Randy De Puniet, the Ducati Marlboro Team now heads to Barcelona to continue its challenge for honours in this weekend's Grand Prix of Catalunya.

The Circuit de Catalunya witnessed the Italian factory's first ever MotoGP back in 2003 and last year played host to a breathtaking battle between Stoner, Valentino Rossi and Dani Pedrosa that the Australian won by a hair's breadth.

Stoner also took second place at this track in the 250cc race in 2005, whilst Melandri's success here started with a podium in the 125cc race in 1999, followed by victory in the 250cc class in 2002 and third place finishes in MotoGP in 2004 and 2005.

"We head to Barcelona in the knowledge that we have to keep working and applying ourselves to the maximum in order to give our riders a competitive package," said Livio Suppo, MotoGP project director. "At the same time we're happy to have seen Casey riding so well at Mugello, one of the few tracks where he didn't manage a podium in 2007, and Marco looking much more comfortable with his race set-up.

"The set-up work Casey did at Le Mans helped him find that little bit of confidence and speed that he's been missing, so much so that he managed to set the circuit record at Mugello. We'll try our best to give him the chance to fight for the podium again at Catalunya.

"Marco had some difficult moments during last weekend but he got a good start and over the first five laps, before he was run off track, he felt more comfortable on the bike than he had done during the three previous practice sessions. This is an encouraging sign and something to work from on Friday morning."

The Circuit de Catalunya, located around 20 kilometres north of Barcelona, was added to the calendar in 1992, when it hosted the European Grand Prix, before changing to the Grand Prix of Catalunya in 1996. It is a fast and demanding track with a long main straight of 1,047m, which allows the 800cc machines to hit 320km/h, followed by a sequence of fast and flowing corners.

The combination of long corners, many of them off-camber, calls for a balanced chassis set-up and puts huge demand on front tire durability and feel. The track was resurfaced in 2005 but many riders still complain about the bumps caused by F1 testing and racing.