Suppo hopeful going into season close
Added on Monday, September 14th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Suppo hopeful going into season close
Ducati boss Livio Suppo is hoping to finish the season with a flourish and put a rollercoaster 2009 season behind him as Casey Stoner prepares to return to action after a three-week lay-off.
Casey Stoner is due to return to MotoGP action in just over a fortnight’s time in Estoril after a three-round lay-off to allow him to cover from an illness that has dogged him for most of the season, with Suppo hoping that his return can reignite Ducati’s year.
After Stoner’s victory at the opening round in Losail, his third in a row in Qatar, Ducati’s only other podium finishes have come by way of Stoner’s victory in Mugello and third places in Jerez, Barcelona and Assen as well as Nicky Hayden’s third in Indianapolis.
Their problems this season were typified by a massive tyre choice blunder at Donington Park in round ten, where the gamble to run wet tyres failed to pay off, leaving them to finishing in 14th and 15th out of 15 finishers.
But Suppo has remained positive going into the final four rounds of the season, believing that the team is as determined as ever to finish the year on a high.
“It’s been an up and down season. We led the Championship at one stage, but we have struggled with Casey’s physical problem,” he told MotoGP.com. “We had issues with the bike at the beginning which only worked for Casey and was difficult for the others, but I think we showed a ‘never give up’ attitude, we did a good job technically and the bike is improving race by race.”
Suppo is also taking some comfort from the performances of Aleix Espargaro and Mika Kallio during Stoner’s absence, believing that the manufacturer can get away from the notion of the Ducati’s being difficult to ride.
“For the final part of the season, I hope to see Casey fight again at the top like he’s done in the past and I think Nicky is improving very quickly – he could have had a top four result in Misano, for example,” he added. “The bike is getting better and better – we saw that with Aleix Espargaró, who is very young and has no experience of MotoGP, but he was able to get some impressive results – he posted the fifth fastest time at Misano.”
