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I have been wondering a little about the MotoGP standings so far..or really how the field of tops finishers has changed this year.  In particular, Hayden and Melandri have probably made the biggest moves backwards.  There is no doubt that Hayden hs all the support he needs, but Melandri claims he is lacking.  From his own website, in his own words (its a Flash site so there is no direct link => click Diary, 2007, March, 26.3.2007)

Melandri: Honda has abandoned me.
Gresini’s Marco Melandri has vented his frustration at Honda after finishing just fifth and eighth in the opening rounds of the 2007 MotoGP season.

“I’m very disappointed and angry as I spent more than half the race literally coasting around, thinking just about finishing,” the triple 2006 race winner wrote on his official website after Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix. “I couldn’t ride my bike, it was just carrying me around the track. I’d have liked to have cried, just to get it off my chest, but I didn’t manage it.

“I feel really alone, all through the winter it was said that I would be an official [Honda] rider, on par with Dani [Pedrosa] and Nicky [Hayden] but in actual fact I’m still carrying the same problem I had on my first day on the 800 and nobody is doing anything about it for me. My team do their best but sadly some modifications need to be carried out by someone above us…
“…I’m not crazy about the front [end]. I’m not managing to brake hard enough to overtake and, as soon as I try to do that, I always take lots of risks and destroy the front tyre within three laps, after which my race is over. After the race [on Sunday] I went off straight away to get changed… I was too furious (and still am). I just told my crew, sadly in a bad way for which I later apologised, that for the test I want a radical change on the front because we can’t go on like this.

“I’m tired of all the crap I’m hearing that I am psychologically fragile,” he continued, “f**k I race motorcycles not bicycles, if the bike or tyres aren’t working I can hardly get off and make them turn.

“Have you ever asked yourselves why Yamaha started winning with Valentino? Maybe because they told themselves ‘damn with all the money we’ve spent to get him, could it be the case of spending some more to do everything that he asks?’ I’ve never had that opportunity, therefore it’s only when I manage to ‘make’ myself like everything at my disposal that I can be really motivated.

“However, when I read through this and think about how poor [Roberto] Locatelli is doing right now I tell myself to f**k off, because I know very well how hard he’ll have to work to get back to a normal life… sadly I know plenty about accidents and rehabilitation.”

Melandri, who was being targeted for a factory Ducati ride before eventually re-signing with Fausto Gresini’s team for 2007, subsequently finished the Jerez test fastest of all - albeit on qualifying tyres.

One has to wonder whether this is true favoritism, or sour grapes from poor finishes (read: excuses). I don’t know much about Melandri, but everything I have read has me believing the former. He is known as a likeable guy and an incredibly hard worker. Let’s hope he improves his season soon.