Melandri optimistic of breakthrough

The Italian, whose future at Ducati Marlboro is in doubt after a torrid time this season, was fifth quickest in Friday's first free practice session. And although he dropped to 12th in the afternoon session, he feels he is close to finding a suitable set-up for himself.

"Finally we've had a 'proper' free practice - I'm pleased," said Melandri. "This morning the circuit was tricky but that was probably because of the fact it was cool, because suddenly the grip came in.

"I had a good feeling from the start with the bike, I was getting decent feedback from the tyres and that is something I've been missing a lot this year. I was able to ride well and stay on the good line. From then on we made constant progress, refining the base set-up that we used at Sachsenring. Now we need to try and continue like this over the next two days because I want a good race here."

Teammate Casey Stoner had an almost perfect day, comfortably heading the timesheets - and ominously setting his best time on the harder compound of tyre.

"This morning the track surface was a little cool but grip wasn't bad and after a few laps it was back to a normal level," said the Australian. "It took a few laps to get used to the new bumps that have emerged since last season though.

"In general the track is in good shape and I enjoyed riding because it's a fun layout and we found a good set-up pretty quickly, using the base from last year.

"In the afternoon when the track temperatures rose further we put a harder tyre on and managed to improve a little bit more, so I'm really satisfied with the first day's work."