Devilfish,
1.McCoy WAS a GP racer, but he is now most probably much slower than in his glory days in 500cc or even in WSBK, considering his age. Mark Aitchison will probably soon be faster than Garry, as he is a very impressive young rider.
Clementi is very fast, he was a Superbike Kawasaki Bertocchi rider for years, and last season he did very well aboard the BE1 Triumph in its first European and Italian supersport season. He will remain in history as the one who has scored the 675's first world championship points.
Ilario Dionisi is the one finding it difficult to match the pace of the other Triumph riders, but he was fast in Superstock 1000. Prior to Qatar, he had almost never tested the 675 nor even a Supersport bike, so it is normal that he needs so more time to get into the top-15. I'm confident he will do it.
2. I can't understand how you could be deceived by the Qatari week-end: Aitchison, Clementi and McCoy were immediately fast in qualifying, and McCoy was fighting for 5th when he was forced to pit due to a overheating issue. Aitchison did not start as well as his compatriot but he was already 10th and closing on the riders ahead of him when he crashed.
Both Italians had a steady race, with Clementi finishing 12 and Dionisi among the backmarkers, but still only one of the 4 Daytonas had a technical issue.
If you want to compare with Ducati, then you have to dig in your archive to find out what were the results of the make in the first 15yrs of its history. Ducati was already an immensely experienced make when the WSBK was created 20 yrs ago, as it was already racing L-twins 20 yrs beforehand!
Triumphs of Meriden have been racing for decades, but Triumph of Hinckley have a very small experience of racing.
That's the reason why I am very impressed by the results achieved and even more by the speed showed by both BE1s and SCs Triumphs, and I'm sure McCoy and Aitchison will be even stronger at Phillip Island...