Alice Ducati's Toni Elias claims he is too small for the Bridgestones he has been given, saying the tyre's construction is too hard for someone of his size.

The Italian, who moves back to Gresini Honda in 2009, struggled with his setup right through the Australian MotoGP round at Phillip Island and is now suffering from the same problems.

“I am not happy at all. It is a difficult situation for me, just like in Phillip Island," said Elias. "The construction of this tyre is really hard and it doesn’t’ work properly for a rider with my physical characteristics. What can we do? It is what we have and with it we will try to do our best. I will try to invent something to obtain a good placement.”

Team boss Fabiano Sterlacchini added: "We have a set of tyres that Toni doesn’t find suitable for him. We are working hard to allow him to find the best feeling possible, but just like in Phillip Island it will not be easy. Unfortunately with his riding style and his lightweight, these pneumatics don’t seem to best. We will do our best anyway as always to obtain the best position possible on the starting grid.”