Frankie Chilli certainly prefers the set up of the 998 chassis for track purposes, although he does use the 999's engine.
This months Bike Magazine (Dec 2004) has an article which compares the 999 and 998 on the track.
In summary, the 999 has less chatter from the rear end due to it's dual sided swingarm, improving the bike on worn tyres. However the conclsuion is that overall, the 999 is a much trickier beat to ride, due to too much weight over the front wheel.
Apparently the 999 has 6 kg more weight over the front tyre with the same set up, making it more crash happy. The team has run 998's and 999's in back to back seasons and riders say the 998 feels more positive.
Phil Borley (MonsterMob Ducati) says: 'From Bayliss and the 998 in 2002 we never broke a lap record with the 999, which means the bikes no good'.
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