Watching Marco Melandri struggle during early testing of his 2008 Ducati MotoGP bike reminded me of how often Loris Capirossi struggled last year . . . even while Casey Stoner was running away with a race win. Even a Ducati MotoGP race representative has been quoted as saying Stoner made all the difference.
Something fairly objective like top speed on the straight can be measured and compared to the competition, but Capirossi already seems more at ease with his new Suzuki and Melandri seems thus far clueless about how to ride the Ducati quickly. Perhaps, it was Stoner’s talent much more than his machinery that gave him an advantage last year.
