Melandri: a long war with Biaggi

Article from http://www.gpone.com/index.php/en/news/35-in-evidenza/3092-melandri-.html

Marco Melandri passed through Rome on his way back from Dubai, where recently took a quick vacation with his beautiful girlfriend Manuela. This gave the Yamaha rider the opportunity to cut the ribbon on MotoDays, the major bike show for central and southern Italy.

Melandri also updated his website recently, talking more about his first Superbike experience at Phillip Island.

"I came back from Australia feeling like I had won. Yes, I had won my challenge, which was to rediscover the joy of riding my bike and fighting. Not fighting with the bike, but with the other riders - Marco wrote on the redesigned marcomelandri.it - Race 1 went well, but I was disappointed to finish just off the podium and even behind my teammate, who passed me out of the final turn because I didn't have any more traction. I knew I could have done much better. My shoulder was holding up fine, but two races was tough."

In reality, Marco found Superbike to be less tiring than MotoGP.

"Especially because there is less braking force with the steel discs. Obviously the WSBK's move around more, and they are heavier, but running two races in a day didn't tire me out: the total distance is more than a Grand Prix, but physically, aside from the shoulder, I was very well prepared."

Essential to Marco's success were the changes made to his bike between Race 1 and Race 2.

"After Race 1 the team did an incredibly job with the bike. I was having some pain in my good shoulder, the left one, because when the bike started to lose grip in Race 1, I was compensating too much with my left shoulder, since my right was exhausted. This made me a little bit worried for Race 2, but when it started the first five or six laps were all adrenaline. I don't know if I was even breathing. The bike was definitely better though, and once I was side by side with Biaggi I certainly wasn't going to let him go."

It was a great battle between the two, also because it wasn't the first time they had raced one another.

"The fight with Max was cool. It was a clean battle, also because he mostly just blew by me on the straight... every time I would pass him at the bottom of the hill, I would make a bet with myself about whether I could get into sixth gear before he passed me back on the straight, or if I would still be in fifth. It was funny. He won the first battle, but not the war... in a sporting sense! To be honest, we were having the poor man's battle, since Checa was totally superior at Phillip Island. I wasn't even considering him after a certain point. I need to cut back on his supply of SpeedRace, the energy drink that I distribute. When I signed him on as a spokesman, I didn't realize he would be this fast!"

Now Melandri's focus is on Donington.

"At Donington I hope to pick up where I left off at Phillip Island, having another excellent race. I hope it isn't too cold, because I'm starting to get a little old and feeling the cold in my body. My competition? I'm definitely aiming for Checa, since he is leading the championship."