Wosi...
"Rather a sweeping statement Hedgey"
Rossi made the statement... no improvement, no steps forward... sweeping indeed... or are you saying the Japanese have been standing still too waiting for them to get their act together?
"Define the amount of ground they lost and where?"
Look at how far back Hayden was from the leader at each race & compare it with 2010.
"plus..was Hayden faster at every race in 2010?"
H5 - "ultimately were slower than they were 2 years earlier (slower than Hayden's 800cc 2010 lap & race times)..."
Ultimate... the end of a progression or series... i.e. the last race & QP times you could compare. He was slower in several QP's than 2010. Overall race times are more difficult to compare but the last one stands out.
"Hayden says it's the best Ducati he's ridden and has improved from 2 years ago"
Rossi said almost the same at the start of the season. Words don't improve lap times... evidently.
"...you never acknowledge that the opposition moved on and think Casey would have been winning on a CF Ducati."
The opposition has moved on... I've said that... repeatedly... yeah? But, despite JL's Yamaha being faster than the last 2 years, it hadn't moved on sufficiently to outdo Stoner's 2010 800cc race time had it?
"He couldn't even beat his team mate."
Stoner's been beaten once by his team mate in MotoGP in a year blighted by injury... which other rider can you say that about?