FIM's Webb not surprised by Ducati speed

Casey Stoner was able to consistently ride away from Valentino Rossi along the main straight of the Losail circuit, leaving the Yamaha team baffled by their lack of power in comparison.

But Webb, who was involved in the inspection process of the bikes after the race, said that he was not shocked to see Ducati's advantage.

"With the inherent top-end characteristics of a screamer versus a big bang engine, it's not a surprise to see a Ducati biased towards top speed," Webb told autosport.com. "We've had three or four years to get used to it."

Yamaha's team boss Davide Brivio said that while he did not know how the Italian team had found so much power under the new regulations, he could only assume that they had kept within the rules at the season opener.

Webb confirmed that Stoner's race-winning bike passed all of the standard parc ferme checks along with the rest of the field, and he added that the Ducati also passed several other thorough inspections.

"I checked all bikes in parc ferme, as always after the race," he said. "Yes, I paid particular attention to the winning bike, as I would if Valentino had won by motoring past everyone on every straight."

The standard checks that Webb makes on every bike after the race are for weight (148 kilograms for 4-cylinder bikes), noise (130 decibels), fuel samples and fuel tank size.

However, after each race he can randomly check anything on a bike, and he was satisfied with the legality of the Ducati after the first round of the season

"During the year every bike, whether it is first or last, will be checked several times," he said. "The point is that they never know until after the race when it will be their turn.

"It goes without saying that I can choose anything I want to check, it will not always be the same items I checked in Qatar. My random check last weekend was on the Ducati, and yes, it passed."

Ducati's technical director Filippo Preziosi told Gazzetta dello Sport he was actually proud there were suggestions about irregularities on their bikes.

"They did it before the race as well, and I was happy they checked fuel tank and petrol temperature.  Honestly, the fact they did that gives me a reason to be proud," he said.