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Suppo: Ducati advantage not just tyres

Ducati team boss Livio Suppo believes the Australian Grand Prix results proved that their 2007 success was not just down to a tyre advantage

Works riders Casey Stoner and Loris Capirossi finished first and second at Phillip Island, with Alex Barros' Pramac D'Antin Ducati taking fifth.

Those results clinched the teams' and manufacturers' titles for Ducati, in addition to the drivers' crown already claimed by Stoner.

Suppo was keen to point out that the other Bridgestone runners had struggled to get near the top six, with Randy de Puniet finishing a distant seventh for Kawasaki, ahead of the Suzukis and Marco Melandri's Gresini Honda.

"The first Bridgestone today without a Ducati was 17 seconds behind the first Michelin (third-placed Valentino Rossi)," Suppo told autosport.com.

"It's not all tyres, it's a lot on the riders, a lot on the package, and the bike is a big part of the package. Since the beginning the bike has been pretty good.

"So I think we deserve this championship, we have done a great job."

He added that he was finding it hard to come to terms with the success Ducati have had in 2007.

"We were thinking the stars must also be helping us this year, because it's like a movie," Suppo said.

"We should have a movie about it. Because we won the riders' championship in Japan and Loris won the race - that was special. We came here, won the factory championship with a one-two and Barros fifth. It's something unbelievable."

Ducati took their first MotoGP title five years after joining the series, but Suppo said they had never set a timescale for achieving major success.

"Honestly, you never think about it," he said. "You cannot plan, you just have to work hard to be the best you can. (You win) if something goes in the right direction, like this year with Casey being unbelievable and the tyre working well everywhere."

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