WSBK – Marco Melandri back in Superbike with Ducati –

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Marco Melandri back in Superbike with Ducati

WSBK - Marco Melandri back in Superbike with Ducati -

Marco Melandri returns to service next year in the World Superbike in the Ducati Panigale R of the Ducati Aruba.it Racing team, alongside Chaz Davies. The Ravenna Hedgehog – who planned to drive the MV Agusta before changing his mind this winter – will replace Davide Giugliano in the 2017 season.

Marco Melandri returns to service next year in the World Superbike in the Ducati Panigale R of the Ducati Aruba.it Racing team, alongside Chaz Davies. The Ravenna Hedgehog – who planned to change his mind before this winter – will replace Davide Giugliano from the 2017 season.

Start of training during the holidays ! 

After announcing that he was if a team offered him a competitive motorcycle, Marco Melandri therefore returned to WSBK on a Ducati. Soon 34 years old (August 7), the former 250 cc Grand Prix world champion in 2002 and MotoGP vice-world champion in 2005 will return to a championship in which he has 19 victories and 49 podiums..

“I’m really excited to come back to racing, it’s a dream come true. I’ve always said I’m interested in a good bike and a good team, I couldn’t ask for better. have continued to follow the World Superbike closely, and I am confident that the Panigale R will match my riding style ", assures Melandri who has already worked in 2008 with … without much success (17th in the standings), to such an extent that he had failed …

"We will have to evolve step by step, but the potential is high. I know it will not be easy to regain the speed, but I have plenty of time to improve on the bike, to complete laps in order to be ready for the first test. For that, I will skip the holidays to train on a road version of the Panigale R ", predicts the Italian, a big fan of motocross, road cycling and music mixing.

The n ° 33 will team up again with Chaz Davies, when the two men were defending the BMW colors. Davies is playing his third season with Ducati at the age of 29 and already has nine victories and 32 podiums: the Welshman, renewed for two seasons in the team, knows the Panigale R perfectly and will undoubtedly be one of the protagonists for the title Ducati Aruba is aiming for. .it Racing.

For Melandri on the other hand, this return will be a little more complicated at first insofar as he will discover his fourth Superbike bike: the Italian started in WSBK on a Yamaha R1 in, then spent two seasons on the BMW S1000RR in and, before jumping on the saddle of the Aprilia RSV4 in ! 

In 2015, constrained and forced by Aprilia, Marco Melandri had made a remarkable passage of demotivation on the MotoGP of the crest of Noale. Unhappy with playing the back grid in the premier class while he was running for the WSBK title, Melandri had dragged his boots all the first part of the season before.

Since then, Marco Melandri has been actively looking for a good handlebar in World Superbike in order to express his speed. The announcement of the hiring of Melandri logically leads to the end of the collaboration between Ducati Aruba.it Racing and Davide Giugliano at the end of the current season…

"I had a good time with Ducati," says the Italian without bitterness. "I learned a lot and can count on a lot of experience today, which is important for a young driver. We also had some difficult times, especially last season when I was heavily injured. Nevertheless, we have always been close. We have decided to follow different paths, but our relationship remains strong: I am still young and we can meet again in the future. I wish the best for Melandri. I want to thank everyone at Ducati , especially Paolo Ciabatti as well as Aruba.it for their support. This adventure has been great and produced great results although we would have liked more. I will do my best until the end of the season ".

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