Melandri yet to decide on Kawasaki deal

The Japanese squad, who had announced their withdrawal from the sport at the start of the year, said on Thursday that Melandri would be riding their bike after partially reversing their decision.

The Italian rider signed with Kawasaki last year after leaving the Ducati team, and he was expected to be partnering John Hopkins before the manufacturer confirmed its exit.

Despite Thursday's announcement, Melandri said he was yet to hear from the team and he admitted he wants to test this year's bike before he commits to racing with it.

"I got calls from many people, but I haven't received any official confirmation," Melandri was quoted as saying by Gazzetta dello Sport. "It's incredible that I should come to know these things from journalists.

"My situation is up in the air: I need to close the old contract and do a new one for this different solution. I know there's not much money, and that's no big issue for me.

"But the discussion was very clear: since they didn't give me guarantees on the 2009 bike, I want to try it myself, from Sunday onwards in Qatar, and then decide.

"That's because I don't feel like starting the season with a bike that is three seconds slower than the others, and that doesn't even get developed during the season.

"I don't know whether the bikes are in Qatar, but I guess they are. But the team is formed: the mechanics are the same I had in the first tests, and they will be headed by telemetry man Andrea Dosoli."