Hayate look for more improvement

The Hayate MotoGP team is looking to continue its startling 2009 progress to help Marco Melandri become a consistent top six finisher.

The Italian has been the major sensation of the season so far with Melandri claiming three successive top six finishes which included a brilliant second place in the recent French GP in Le Mans.

And while Kawasaki no longer plays any role in the development of new parts for the Hayate machine, which is a rebadged Kawasaki ZX-RR, team staff are confident they have still not seen the full potential of Melandri’s bike.

Hayate boss Andrea Dosoli, who doubles up as the former world 250 champion’s crew chief, told MCN: “We are still working a lot on the chassis. We would like to improve the braking and turning into the corner, so a combination with the chassis and engine braking management is where we need to improve. We are working on some different geometry too to help with Marco’s request also.”

Hayate still has one new chassis and several swingarms for Melandri to test that he was unable to evaluate during pre-season.

He is likely to test the new chassis in the one-day test immediately after the Catalunya GP and the 26-year-old said: “We have improved the front feeling and the engine is much more smooth to ride and more powerful so this has been a good step. Now we have to work a lot on the grip level in mid-corner, the bike doesn’t turn so good because we don’t have a lot of grip. “