Pramac play down poor times

250cc graduate Mika Kallio was only 13th for Pramac in Malaysia today, while his teammate Niccolo Canepa - a former factory team test rider and Superstock champion - was slowest of all, 3.4 seconds off the pace.

But Pramac's technical director Fabiano Sterlacchini insisted they were making good progress.

"We couldn't expect great lap times from the first day of work," he said. "For us the most important thing is that our riders will learn quickly the best way to work so that we will be able to constantly improve their bikes.

"Mika really has a great sensibility with the bike and each time he comes back in the garage he make us clearly understand how to modify and improve our performances.

"In the other side of the garage we have met more difficulties, but this doesn't worry us. We can't forget that Niccolo hasn't been racing for more than a year and this is an important fact. He will have to get used to referring to other riders' lap times and not only to personal sensations like last year during Bridgestone testing.

"Anyway in today's last few laps he has improved and this give us good hopes for the upcoming two days. We have noticed that we lose too much time in the two final straights where Niccolo is more than 15km/h slower than Mika and we have to understand what slows us down so much."

Canepa hopes that he can cure his lack of straightline speed by adjusting his position on the Ducati.

"For sure I cannot be satisfied," he said. "Looking at the lap times and at the data, we have noticed that for half of the circuit I maintain my teammate's rhythm, which is good, while I lose too much time in the two final straights and the last turns.

"I probably have to improve the way I sit on the bike because my top speed is 16km/h slower than Mika's. This makes a big difference."