MotoGP – Marco Melandri almost gave up everything … –

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Marco Melandri almost gave it all up…

MotoGP - Marco Melandri almost gave up everything ... -

With the 2008 season over, drivers and managers indulge in a few confidences in an attempt to explain their poor performance. This is the case of Marco Melandri, unable to find the manual for his factory Ducati, who considered giving up…

Propelled as a teammate of Casey Stoner at Ducati during the winter of 2007, the 2005 MotoGP vice-world champion Marco Melandri was expected as the Messiah within the Bologna team….

Never sacred with an Italian rider – in MotoGP as in WSBK -, the Reds secretly hoped to achieve this sweet dream by combining the experience of "Super Marco" with stunning performances – well highlighted thanks to Casey Stoner – of their red ball … Alas! From the first tests, the Hedgehog of Ravenna was able to measure the scale of the task: the Ducati GP8 had nothing to do with the docile Honda RCVs on which it won five races in the premier class, and no adjustment was right. achieve agreement on both sides…

A long descent into hell then began for the 26-year-old Italian, unable to approach the lap times of his Australian leader within a second who – despite some setbacks – was the only one to really stand up to a Valentino Rossi returned to the top of his art. "The 2008 season is over. I have learned a lot from my many disappointments. I really almost gave up, at the worst time of my career, and sent everything for a walk"says Marco on his blog."One day, I clicked and I realized that if so many people believed in me, I too had to believe !".

However, believing in his talent will not be enough for him to overcome the mechanical bottleneck. And if a nice 5th place in China helps to restore some hope to aficionados of the 250 world champion (2002), his 17th place in the final standings and the meager 51 points scored in 18 GP do not fully satisfy them … Passed alongside John Hopkins at Kawasaki for the 2009 season, Marco Melandri however quickly improved his times during post-Grand Prix testing in Valencia, even though he was unable to turn faster than his new American teammate..

"Now I see things differently and I feel very good. My work is my biggest passion and I will give my maximum, because I know that I will have a lot of fun !", says the Italian:"not that I didn’t do my best this year, because I approached every race as if I was aiming for victory !"

Surprising confessions given his disappointing results and the remarkable – but episodic – performances of Toni Elias on the Ducati "Sat" … No more explanations as to the best final ranking (13th) of the unfortunate Sylvain Guintoli, currently learning phase on his British Superbike Suzuki … Evading the question, the Italian offers his – fatalistic – explanation: "When nothing is going well, there is nothing to do! I understood that there was no point in asking a whole bunch of questions. They can only make your life more difficult and bring you unnecessary concerns.", estimated the driver with 19 podiums in the premier class."I believe that sometimes it’s better to leave things as they are and be reassured knowing that you’ve given your best", continues n ° 33 with aplomb..

To revive a career and a self-esteem tarnished by this delicate 2008 season, Marco Melandri will now have to apply himself to understanding and improving the behavior of a ZX RR at the bottom of the hole: Hopkins and West indeed supervise Melandri in the general classification ! A situation that has not escaped the director of competition for the Greens, Michael Bartholemy (read our): "the year has been difficult, perhaps the most difficult since my arrival at Kawasaki in MotoGP", deplores the team manager with sincerity."Our expectations were very high: we had John Hopkins who had just finished fourth in the championship and then he got injured with a crash at Phillip Island which put us behind two months and we weren’t really ready for the first races. . Anthony West also struggled more than we thought, because he had done some good races in 2007.", explains the Belgian who probably also plays his all-out in 2009…

From then on, all that remains is to hope that the Kawasaki – Hopkins – Melandri trio will come back up the slope in 2009 and know how to bounce back during the winter. The first elements of the answer will be in the next Kawasaki tests scheduled at Phillip Island at the end of the month, while the rest of the Continental Circus will head to Jerez for the second official test session in thirteen days. Stay connected !

Alexandre BARDIN – Photos DR

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