Tanked-up Roberts will be back to front.

Expect Kenny Roberts Jr to be at the front of the GP500 pack this weekend, after his Suzuki team found the problem which afflicted his Italian GP weekend.

The American qualified off the front row for the first time this season at Mugello, and faded to an unrepresentative sixth in the race. Perplexed by the problem which saw him trounced by the likes of Valentino Rossi, Max Biaggi and Loris Capirossi, Roberts and Suzuki eschewed the chance to try Michelin's new 16.5 inch front tyre in an attempt to discover what was wrong with the Telefonica Movistar bike.

Suspected that it was an individual problem with Roberts' bike, after team-mate Nobuatsu Aoki took fourth place at Mugello, the test result was something of a triumph and tragedy for the team. Unbelievably, it appears to have been nothing more than a broken fuel tank mount that caused the American to be off the pace and, once cured, Roberts was able to lap faster than he had on the GP weekend.

''The problem is so dumb,'' team boss Garry Taylor told motograndprix.com, ''It's almost embarrassing to say what it is. We were all incredibly disappointed in Mugello, and everyone needed time to get their breath back after the race. I can tell you, though, now that we've found the problem, we have a lot more confidence going to Barcelona.''

With a tanked-up Roberts back on song, the rest had better watch out....