Daily Update MotoGP

Ducati team boss Livio Suppo says it's 99 percent certain that Marco Melandri will stay at the team at least until the US Grand Prix.

The Italian's future in the team is in doubt after a dismal season, in which he has been completely overshadowed by teammate Casey Stoner.

Melandri's position has led to speculation about his immediate future, with former GP winner Sete Gibernau linked to the ride already for this season.

Gibernau tested for Ducati last month and is testing again this week, in what it is rumoured to be his preparation to return to MotoGP racing action following his retirement in 2006.

Suppo said, however, that no announcement will be made at the end of the test and that Melandri is likely to ride at Sachsenring and Laguna Seca, the two races before the Czech Grand Prix at Brno.

"It's 99% certain that Melandri will race at Sachsenring and in the USA," Suppo told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Do not expect announcements at the end of testing."

Melandri has been linked with a switch to the Kawasaki team, who could be looking for a replacement for the injured John Hopkins, likely to miss at least two races following his heavy crash at Assen.

The Japanese squad, who had failed to make an impression so far this year, have been rumoured to be considering fielding a third bike for Melandri if the Italian leaves Ducati.
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Valentino Rossi accepted responsibility for his first lap crash at Assen and does not think it will prove too costly for his championship bid.
The Italian fell and then collected Randy de Puniet's LCR Honda at the start of today's Dutch TT, before rejoining to take 11th.
The result saw Rossi lose the championship lead to Dani Pedrosa, whose second place puts him four points ahead in the standings.
"It's a shame. I also want to apologise to de Puniet because it was my mistake," Rossi told Italia1 television.
"When I turned left the tyre was still cold and I lost it and I caught him with me. I made a mistake. Unfortunately we have this chronic problem at the start when I never manage to have a good getaway, after which I made a mistake.
"A mistake after seven consecutive podiums is acceptable. We lost the lead in the standings but we are still close to Pedrosa."

Rossi also took comfort from his race pace, as he regularly matched the leaders' lap times despite his Yamaha being damaged in the accident, with much of the gear-pedal destroyed.
"I was so pissed off that I was changing gears with my nervousness," he said.
"I don't know, I didn't even look at it, but I managed somehow. On top of that my handlebar was completely bent, giving me trouble when changing direction.
"Despite that I did the third best lap of the race, we weren't far off. This morning we made a modification that allowed me to ride a lot better, with the front much more under control. So it's a double shame, because my pace was good, I could do 1:36s too, so I was the only one who could threaten (Casey) Stoner.
"It's a shame because we had the potential, we were up there, I was quicker than at Donington and I felt better with the bike. In fact at the end I was going quick even with a bent bike.
"For sure today I would have been able to go quicker than Dani, so it's positive that our closest rival can't go as quick as us."
Stoner's dominant win today closed him to within 25 points of Rossi, and the multiple champion believes the Assen result has set up a three-way head-to-head for the second half of the season.
"We'll see in Germany, with a track where Pedrosa has always gone very quick," Rossi said. "Stoner is in shape, he's found out how to use his bike at its best, and they've solved the
"As for the standings, Pedrosa is the one leading with the most points. These two races Stoner has gone really really quick so it's hard to say.
"We are halfway through the championship, so we must work well in this second part of the season, where last year we had some problems. But with the Bridgestones I think we can be quick at all times.
"When Stoner is well sorted he can be faster than Pedrosa, he's going very quick. I don't want to say more about one compared to the other because usually when you do that the opposite thing happens. So it's 50-50."
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Reigning MotoGP champion Casey Stoner confirmed that he and his Ducati Marlboro are back with a vengeance after completely dominating the Dutch TT at Assen.
After his Donington Park victory, this was the second win in six days for the Australian, and his third of the season, enabling him to reduce the gap to the top of the standings from 45 to 29 points.
But the championship lead has changed hands from Fiat Yamaha's Valentino Rossi to Repsol Honda's Dani Pedrosa, with the former classified eleventh after a first-lap crash and now languishing four points behind the latter, who finished today's race in second.
The start saw Pedrosa making a perfect getaway from second on the grid to pip pole-setter Stoner at the first corner, but before the end of the lap Stoner was back in front and never looked back, with his gap to Pedrosa increasing throughout the race to be over eleven seconds by the end.

Meanwhile, Rossi had a bad start from third and dropped to seventh behind LCR Honda's Randy de Puniet. As the Italian tried to recover he lost the rear at the second corner and crashed into the Frenchman, taking both out in the gravel.
But while de Puniet retired with an injury on his left thigh, Rossi rejoined the track dead last and ended the first lap half a minute behind Stoner and 25 seconds behind the next man up the road, Marco Melandri in 13th place.
The Ducati rider, who was 12th by then thanks to Kawasaki's Anthony West crashing on lap eight, was caught and overtaken by Rossi on lap 20. The seven-time champion then went on to overtake Toni Elias's Alice Ducati three laps later.
Before the first lap was over Alex de Angelis also crashed his Honda Gresini and broke his left little finger.
While Stoner was opening a gap to the factory Hondas of Pedrosa and Nicky Hayden, Colin Edwards began to make up places after being delayed by the de Puniet-Rossi crash.
The Tech 3 Yamaha rider was tenth after lap two and fourth by lap 15, seven seconds behind Hayden. The Texan within six laps managed to reduce the gap to the Kentucky man to just over four seconds, a gap that stayed about the same until the end.
But just when Hayden was about to score the maiden podium for HRC's new pneumatic-valve engine, he appeared to run out of fuel while on the finish straight and had to concede third position to Edwards.
JiR Team Scot Honda's Andrea Dovizioso classified fifth after resisting a late surge by the works Yamaha of Jorge Lorenzo, who finished just over a second behind the Italian.

Pos Rider Bike Time
1. Casey Stoner Ducati (B) 42:12.337
2. Dani Pedrosa Honda (M) + 11.310
3. Colin Edwards Yamaha (M) + 17.125
4. Nicky Hayden Honda (M) + 20.477
5. Andrea Dovizioso Honda (M) + 27.346
6. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha (M) + 28.608
7. Chris Vermeulen Suzuki (B) + 32.330
8. Shinya Nakano Honda (B) + 34.892
9. James Toseland Yamaha (M) + 38.566
10. Sylvain Guintoli Ducati (B) + 38.817
11. Valentino Rossi Yamaha (B) + 46.025
12. Toni Elias Ducati (B) + 48.213
13. Marco Melandri Ducati (B) + 59.594
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