[Racer Duck]

One race does not a season make, but Casey Stoner appears to still be the dominant force in MotoGP with his win at Qatar. Only Jorge Lorenzo gave him any real challenge but still finished 5 seconds back as the two of them distanced the field.

Read the full story here: MotoGP 2008 - Moto Grand Prix

[DOF_power]

Well they forgot to mention that the other factory Ducati was 44 sec. behind Stoner and the non-factory Ducatis were even worse.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by DOF_power

Well they forgot to mention that the other factory Ducati was 44 sec. behind Stoner and the non-factory Ducatis were even worse.

does that mean if he was on a Yamaha nobody could beat him?

[DOF_power]

It means that while the Ducati is the fastest bike, it's also the most quirky, weird, difficult to control. Stoner has a quirky technique to control the bike.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by DOF_power

It means that while the Ducati is the fastest bike, it's also the most quirky, weird, difficult to control. Stoner has a quirky technique to control the bike.

hasn't that always been true of Italian equipment no matter how many wheels?

[DOF_power]

Ha ha, yep

[Racer Duck]

Found this while trying to catch up...

uppo underlines Stoner brilliance
''… he is almost unbeatable''
13/03/08 11:01

Ducati Marlboro's MotoGP Project Director Livio Suppo was understandably a very happy man after Casey Stoner's sensational performance in the opening race of his title defence season at the Commercialbank Grand Prix of Qatar.

The Italian team boss watched Stoner come from fourth on the grid to win by more than five seconds at the floodlit Losail International circuit, before commenting: “Casey did an amazing job as he always does. At the beginning of the race it was tough but when he found his rhythm he was putting in very good lap times, one after another.”

“Every time Casey goes on track he is almost unbeatable”, continued Suppo, “so we have to say thanks to him first of all. The bike is still working well, the top speed is still there and ride-ability is still there, fingers crossed. It's a good package, it's the package of a World Champion and I think Casey proved again why he has number one on his bike.”

Suppo also reviewed the result of new recruit Marco Melandri on his race debut for Ducati, an 11th place finish from 16th on the grid after some tough testing sessions finding his way on the Desmosedici GP8 over the winter.

“I think Marco really just needed to race”, said Suppo. “Finally after the halfway point in the race he put together some decent lap times and I hope this will help him to build confidence in the package he has. He knows the package can win races and World Championships so he must just believe in the package that he has.”