Ducati praises Kallio's performance

The Pramac rider has finished eighth in the opening two races of the season on a satellite Ducati and has quickly established as the second fastest man on the Italian machines behind factory rider Casey Stoner.

In contrast, team-mate Niccolo Canepa has struggled for form and factory signing Nicky Hayden has suffered a string of misfortunes and is still recovering from accidents in Qatar and Motegi.

Suppo believes that Kallio's results should boost the confidence of Hayden and Canepa and help them understand that the bike can be ridden quickly by people other than Stoner: "Kallio is helping a lot for Ducati because it will help for the others to understand that this bike has nothing strange (about it).

"He is a rookie so he has no pressure," added Suppo. "In Japan he had a big crash and had less time than others in the dry, he started from the back of the grid never the less he finished eighth. With a good qualifying and a good start he could have been able to be in front of Marco Melandri (who was 6th).

"He is a low key guy not in the limelight of all the press and he doesn't care for some unimportant things and in the Official Test he finished fifth and in Qatar he was eighth."