Marco Melandri

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Marco Melandri
2005 0512 Marco Melandri.jpg
Marco Melandri
Nationality Italy Italian
Born (1982-08-07) 7 August 1982 (age 36)
Ravenna, Italy
Current team Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
Bike number 33
Website marcomelandri.co.uk
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years2003–2010, 2015
ManufacturersYamaha (2003–2004)
Honda (2005–2007, 2010)
Ducati (2008)
Kawasaki (2009)
Aprilia (2015)
Championships0
2015 championship positionNC (0 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
139 5 20 0 3 1017
250cc World Championship
Active years2000–2002,
ManufacturersAprilia
Championships1 (2002)
2002 championship position1st (298 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
47 10 25 3 8 651
125cc World Championship
Active years1997–1999
ManufacturersHonda
Championships0
1999 championship position2nd (226 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
29 7 17 6 5 428
Superbike World Championship
Active years2011–2014, 2017, 2018
ManufacturersBMW, Yamaha, Aprilia, Ducati
Championships0
2018 championship position1st (50 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
139 22 67 3 19 1838.5

Marco Melandri (born 7 August 1982) is an Italian motorcycle road racer. He currently races in the Superbike World Championship. Melandri is also a former 250cc World Champion in 2002, which he followed up by finishing second overall in MotoGP in 2005. Melandri currently lives 2 miles away from the famous race track, Donington Park, Leicestershire, England.

Career[edit]

Early days[edit]

Melandri was born in Ravenna. He was introduced to racing by a former rider Loris Reggiani at the age of six. He came through the ranks from minibikes, motocross and then the Italian and European 125cc championship.

In 1997, Melandri won the Italian 125cc championship, also finishing 4th in European 125cc championship. In addition to his European success, he made his debut in 125cc world championship at Brno, Czech Republic as a wild card rider.

125cc (1998–1999)[edit]

After impressing in Italian and European championship in 1997, Melandri finally got his chance to compete in 1998 125cc world championship as a regular. He rode Honda 125cc bike under Benetton Honda Team. He went on to impress many as he earned his first podium in the fourth race of the season, where he finished second in his home Grand Prix at Mugello, Italy. His brilliant debut season continued when he won his first grand prix at Assen TT, Netherlands. He won this race at the age of 15 years and 324 days which made him the youngest ever Grand Prix winner, at the time. Overall, he won two Grand Prix in his debut season and therefore he finished the season at 3rd position in overall standings behind champion Kazuto Sakata and runner-up Tomomi Manako.

He remained on the same bike and team in 1999, where he bid to win the 125cc world championship. He went on to win 5 Grand Prix but failed to win the championship, finishing second behind Emilio Alzamora with just a single point difference. Failure in securing his first world championship did not stop his rise to 250cc world championship in 2000.

250cc (2000–2002)[edit]

Melandri was signed by Aprilia in 2000 to replace another Italian Valentino Rossi who left the team and 250cc class for 500cc class. He was highly expected to take over Rossi's shoes and to win the 250cc world championship. However, his debut season did not start as well as the expectation. He struggled to adapt to bigger bike and higher competition. He failed to win any Grand Prix in 2000, managing only 4 podiums, all came late in the season. Despite these problems, he still finishes the season at 5th position overall.

In 2001, his performances were improving. He managed to win his first 250cc Grand Prix at Sachsenring, Germany. However, it was his only win in 2001. Despite managing to appear on the podium on 9 occasions, he never really challenged for the championship. He finished the season in 3rd position behind champion Daijiro Kato and runner-up Tetsuya Harada.

2002 proved to be Melandri's chance to shine. With 2001 champion and runner-up, Kato and Harada moved to MotoGP class, he became the strongest contender for the championship. He dominated the season by collecting 9 wins and 3 additional podiums. After challenging for world championship for years, he finally won the 250cc world title. He became the youngest 250cc world champion at the age of 20 years and 74 days until Dani Pedrosa broke his record in 2004.

MotoGP (2003–2010)[edit]

After securing the 250cc world title in 2002, Melandri moved up to MotoGP class to spearhead Yamaha factory team alongside Carlos Checa in 2003 replacing the departing Max Biaggi. The Yamaha was less competitive than Honda and Ducati, and although Melandri at times showed good speed, he struggled to turn this into good results. He finished the season in fifteenth position without collecting any wins or podiums.

He joined Yamaha satellite team, Tech 3 in 2004 alongside Norick Abe. This season, he again struggled to get top results. Although he managed to collect two consecutive podiums, a series of crashes and retirements kept him out of the top 10 in overall standings. He finished the season in twelfth position.

Released from his Yamaha contract after the 2004 season, Melandri was the surprise choice of boss Fausto Gresini to join Sete Gibernau in the Movistar Honda team for the 2005 MotoGP campaign. Melandri was remarkably successful with Movistar Honda in 2005, with a consistent run of podium finishes early in the season, ultimately taking his first two wins in the final two races of 2005 to clinch second place in the championship. In doing so, he was the first Honda rider to win back-to-back races for nearly two years, winning the final two rounds of the MotoGP Championship at Istanbul and in Valencia.[1] Although he never really challenged his best friend Valentino Rossi for the title, he finished the season strongly as runner-up, with a total of two wins and five other podiums.

Melandri rode for Gresini's Fortuna Honda team alongside Toni Elías in the 2006 season. With Rossi struggling to find consistency, he was a major challenger, along with Ducati's Loris Capirossi and Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa. He again won at Istanbul, despite starting from fourteenth on the grid. He managed further wins at Le Mans, France[2] and Phillip Island, Australia.[3] He finished the season in fourth position, just one point behind Capirossi.

In 2007, Melandri and Elias remained in the Honda Gresini team, now sponsored by Hannspree. Honda's 800cc machine was not competitive. Melandri finished on the podium at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Le Mans – at this point he and works rider Dani Pedrosa were the only Honda riders with multiple podiums. He ultimately finished fifth overall, second only to Pedrosa among the Honda riders.

Melandri at the 2009 British Grand Prix.

Immediately after Melandri's 3rd-place finish in the 2007 USA's MotoGP round, Ducati announced that he would join its factory team alongside Casey Stoner for 2008 and 2009. But 2008 proved disastrous, with a run of uncompetitive runs often leaving him behind the semi-works Alice Team bikes of Toni Elías and Sylvain Guintoli. At Assen he qualified last and ran there throughout. A rumoured mid-season move to Kawasaki did not occur, however Melandri announced that he would be joining Kawasaki Racing Team for the 2009 MotoGP season to ride alongside his new teammate John Hopkins on 19 August.[4] He then ended the season in a lacklustre 17th position.

Kawasaki pulled its factory involvement for 2009, leading to fears that Melandri would not have a ride,[5] however a rescue package was agreed to allow Melandri to run the bike for a one-bike semi-works Hayate Racing team, despite his concerns over the bike's poor rear traction.[6] In 2009 Melandri achieved his first podium since 2007 with his 2nd-place finish at the wet French motorcycle Grand Prix. His only other top six finishes were in the first three races, as the team tailed off bike development and Melandri finished tenth overall.[7] At Brno he battled Mika Kallio for sixth before a penultimate-lap collision between the two.[8]

For 2010, Melandri returned to Gresini Honda, with a factory-spec RC212V bike from the start.[9] Full factory support had sometimes been promised, but not provided, during his first Gresini spell.[10] The team made set-up errors in its initial testing.[11]

Superbike World Championship[edit]

Melandri moved to the Superbike World Championship from 2011 with the Yamaha World Superbike Team, replacing Cal Crutchlow, who moved to the Tech 3 team in MotoGP.[12]

On 2 October 2011, Melandri signed a contract to ride with the BMW World Superbike team for the 2012 season,[13] after Yamaha elected not to continue with a factory team after the 2011 season. Melandri achieved BMW's best result, at the time, in the Superbike World Championship, with a second place in the season-opening race at Phillip Island, having started 13th on the grid.[14] Mixed results followed at Imola, Assen and Monza, but Melandri achieved BMW's first Superbike World Championship victory at the European round at Donington Park,[15] leading home teammate Leon Haslam in a 1–2 finish. Melandri and Haslam collided in the meeting's second race, denying a weekend sweep for BMW. From that point, Melandri won races at Miller Motorsports Park, Motorland Aragón and a double at Brno, to move within 21 points of the championship lead held by Max Biaggi.[16]

Return to MotoGP[edit]

In November 2014, it was announced that Melandri would return to Gresini, Aprilia's factory team for the 2015 season.[17] However, after failing to score a point in the first eight races of the season, Melandri left the team and was replaced by Michael Laverty and then by Stefan Bradl.[18]

Car racing[edit]

In addition to his motorcycle racing career, Melandri has also competed in car racing. He raced in two rounds of the 2008-09 Speedcar Series season, scoring two points from the four races.

Career statistics[edit]

Grand Prix motorcycle racing[edit]

By season[edit]

Seas Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Pod Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh
1997 125cc Honda RS125R 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC 0
1998 125cc Honda RS125R Benetton Matteoni 14 2 8 3 1 202 3rd 0
1999 125cc Honda RS125R Benetton Playlife 14 5 9 3 4 226 2nd 0
2000 250cc Aprilia RSV250 Blu Aprilia Team 16 0 4 1 0 159 5th 0
2001 250cc Aprilia RSV250 MS Aprilia Racing 15 1 9 0 4 194 3rd 0
2002 250cc Aprilia RSV250 MS Aprilia Racing 16 9 12 2 4 298 1st 1
2003 MotoGP Yamaha YZR-M1 Fortuna Yamaha 13 0 0 0 0 45 15th 0
2004 MotoGP Yamaha YZR-M1 Fortuna Tech 3 15 0 2 0 0 75 12th 0
2005 MotoGP Honda RC211V Movistar Honda MotoGP 17 2 7 0 3 220 2nd 0
2006 MotoGP Honda RC211V Fortuna Honda Gresini 17 3 7 0 0 228 4th 0
2007 MotoGP Honda RC212V Gresini Racing 17 0 3 0 0 187 5th 0
2008 MotoGP Ducati Desmosedici GP8 Ducati Marlboro 18 0 0 0 0 51 17th 0
2009 MotoGP Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR Hayate Racing Team 17 0 1 0 0 108 10th 0
2010 MotoGP Honda RC212V San Carlo Honda Gresini Team 17 0 0 0 0 103 10th 0
2015 MotoGP Aprilia RS-GP Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 8 0 0 0 0 0 NC 0
Total 215 22 62 9 16 2096 1

By class[edit]

Class Seas 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Pod Pole FLap Pts WCh
125cc 1997–1999 1997 Czech Republic 1998 Italy 1998 Netherlands 29 7 17 6 5 428 0
250cc 2000–2002 2000 South Africa 2000 Portugal 2001 Germany 47 10 25 3 8 651 1
MotoGP 2003–2010, 2015 2003 Japan 2004 Catalunya 2005 Turkey 139 5 20 0 3 1017 0
Total 1997–2010, 2015 215 22 62 9 16 2096 1

Races by year[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts
1997 125cc Honda MAL JPN SPA ITA AUT FRA NED IMO GER BRA GBR CZE
17 		CAT IND AUS NC 0
1998 125cc Honda JPN
10 		MAL
Ret 		SPA
10 		ITA
2 		FRA
2 		MAD
2 		NED
1 		GBR
4 		GER
13 		CZE
1 		IMO
2 		CAT
8 		AUS
3 		ARG
2 		3rd 202
1999 125cc Honda MAL JPN SPA
Ret 		FRA
6 		ITA
2 		CAT
3 		NED
8 		GBR
5 		GER
1 		CZE
1 		IMO
1 		VAL
Ret 		AUS
1 		RSA
3 		BRA
2 		ARG
1 		2nd 226
2000 250cc Aprilia RSA
13 		MAL
5 		JPN
5 		SPA
6 		FRA
4 		ITA
4 		CAT
6 		NED
Ret 		GBR
Ret 		GER
Ret 		CZE
4 		POR
3 		VAL
3 		BRA
3 		PAC
3 		AUS
5 		5th 159
2001 250cc Aprilia JPN
6 		RSA
2 		SPA
3 		FRA
3 		ITA
3 		CAT
Ret 		NED
6 		GBR
3 		GER
1 		CZE
2 		POR
2 		VAL
Ret 		PAC
Ret 		AUS MAL
11 		BRA
2 		3rd 194
2002 250cc Aprilia JPN
Ret 		RSA
1 		SPA
Ret 		FRA
2 		ITA
1 		CAT
1 		NED
1 		GBR
1 		GER
1 		CZE
1 		POR
2 		BRA
4 		PAC
2 		MAL
Ret 		AUS
1 		VAL
1 		1st 298
2003 MotoGP Yamaha JPN
WD 		RSA SPA
17 		FRA
15 		ITA
11 		CAT
13 		NED
Ret 		GBR
Ret 		GER
Ret 		CZE
10 		POR
7 		BRA
11 		PAC
5 		MAL
11 		AUS
Ret 		VAL 15th 45
2004 MotoGP Yamaha RSA
11 		SPA
Ret 		FRA
6 		ITA
9 		CAT
3 		NED
3 		BRA
13 		GER
Ret 		GBR CZE
9 		POR
Ret 		JPN
5 		QAT
Ret 		MAL
Ret 		AUS
Ret 		VAL
Ret 		12th 75
2005 MotoGP Honda SPA
3 		POR
4 		CHN
3 		FRA
4 		ITA
4 		CAT
3 		NED
2 		USA
Ret 		GBR
Ret 		GER
7 		CZE
6 		JPN
Ret 		MAL
5 		QAT
2 		AUS
4 		TUR
1 		VAL
1 		2nd 220
2006 MotoGP Honda SPA
5 		QAT
7 		TUR
1 		CHN
7 		FRA
1 		ITA
6 		CAT
Ret 		NED
7 		GBR
3 		GER
2 		USA
3 		CZE
5 		MAL
9 		AUS
1 		JPN
3 		POR
8 		VAL
5 		4th 228
2007 MotoGP Honda QAT
5 		SPA
8 		CHN
5 		TUR
5 		FRA
2 		ITA
9 		CAT
9 		GBR
10 		NED
10 		GER
6 		USA
3 		CZE RSM
4 		POR
5 		JPN
5 		AUS
10 		MAL
2 		VAL
4 		5th 187
2008 MotoGP Ducati QAT
11 		SPA
12 		POR
13 		CHN
5 		FRA
15 		ITA
Ret 		CAT
11 		GBR
16 		NED
13 		GER
Ret 		USA
16 		CZE
7 		SMR
9 		IND
19 		JPN
13 		AUS
16 		MAL
16 		VAL
16 		17th 51
2009 MotoGP Kawasaki QAT
14 		JPN
6 		SPA
5 		FRA
2 		ITA
11 		CAT
14 		NED
12 		USA
10 		GER
7 		GBR
7 		CZE
Ret 		IND
Ret 		SMR
8 		POR
12 		AUS
7 		MAL
8 		VAL
17 		10th 108
2010 MotoGP Honda QAT
13 		SPA
8 		FRA
6 		ITA
5 		GBR
Ret 		NED
DNS 		CAT
9 		GER
10 		USA
8 		CZE
8 		IND
Ret 		SMR
10 		ARA
9 		JPN
11 		MAL
9 		AUS
9 		POR
9 		VAL
13 		10th 103
2015 MotoGP Aprilia QAT
21 		AME
Ret 		ARG
20 		SPA
19 		FRA
18 		ITA
18 		CAT
Ret 		NED
19 		GER IND CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL NC 0

Superbike World Championship[edit]

By season[edit]

Seas Moto Team Race Win Pod Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh
2011 Yamaha YZF-R1 Yamaha World Superbike Team 26 4 15 1 3 395 2nd
2012 BMW S1000RR BMW Motorrad Motorsport 25 6 11 0 4 328.5 3rd
2013 BMW S1000RR BMW Motorrad Motorsport 26 3 12 0 2 359 4th
2014 Aprilia RSV4 Aprilia Racing Team 24 6 11 0 3 333 4th
2017 Ducati Panigale R Aruba.it.Ducati 26 1 13 1 4 327 4th
2018 Ducati Panigale R Aruba.it.Ducati 2 2 2 0 1 50 1st
Total 129 22 64 2 17 1792.5

Races by year[edit]

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
2011 Yamaha AUS
5 		AUS
3 		EUR
1 		EUR
2 		NED
4 		NED
Ret 		ITA
4 		ITA
2 		USA
10 		USA
6 		SMR
3 		SMR
Ret 		SPA
1 		SPA
2 		CZE
1 		CZE
2 		GBR
3 		GBR
3 		GER
2 		GER
6 		ITA
8 		ITA
6 		FRA
2 		FRA
2 		POR
6 		POR
1 		2nd 395
2012 BMW AUS
2 		AUS
6 		ITA
6 		ITA
10 		NED
9 		NED
4 		ITA
C 		ITA
4 		EUR
1 		EUR
Ret 		USA
2 		USA
1 		SMR
Ret 		SMR
4 		SPA
2 		SPA
1 		CZE
1 		CZE
1 		GBR
7 		GBR
8 		RUS
2 		RUS
1 		GER
Ret 		GER
Ret 		POR
Ret 		POR
DNS 		FRA
2 		FRA
Ret 		3rd 328.5
2013 AUS
Ret 		AUS
3 		SPA
3 		SPA
5 		NED
Ret 		NED
8 		ITA
1 		ITA
2 		GBR
2 		GBR
5 		POR
1 		POR
12 		ITA
4 		ITA
4 		RUS
1 		RUS
C 		GBR
9 		GBR
9 		GER
2 		GER
3 		TUR
2 		TUR
4 		USA
4 		USA
3 		FRA
5 		FRA
7 		SPA
2 		SPA
DNS 		4th 359
2014 Aprilia AUS
2 		AUS
8 		SPA
11 		SPA
3 		NED
6 		NED
6 		ITA
6 		ITA
11 		GBR
4 		GBR
17 		MAL
1 		MAL
1 		SMR
3 		SMR
3 		POR
4 		POR
Ret 		USA
1 		USA
Ret 		SPA
1 		SPA
1 		FRA
2 		FRA
1 		QAT
8 		QAT
4 		4th 333
2017 Ducati AUS
Ret 		AUS
3 		THA
4 		THA
3 		SPA
2 		SPA
3 		NED
3 		NED
Ret 		ITA
3 		ITA
5 		GBR
4 		GBR
Ret 		ITA
15 		ITA
1 		USA
4 		USA
4 		GER
4 		GER
3 		POR
3 		POR
3 		FRA
2 		FRA
5 		SPA
Ret 		SPA
2 		QAT
3 		QAT
6 		4th 327
2018 Ducati AUS
1 		AUS
1 		1st 50

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Melandri wins Valencia season finale". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 6 November 2005. Retrieved 26 July 2015. 
  2. ^ "Rossi 'powerless' as Melandri wins Le Mans". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 21 May 2006. Retrieved 14 July 2015. 
  3. ^ "Melandri wins first ever 'bike swap' MotoGP". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 23 July 2015. 
  4. ^ "Melandri claims Kawasaki move for 2009". motogp.com. Dorna Sports. 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  5. ^ Henry, Alan (2009-01-06). "Melandri without a team as Kawasaki leave MotoGP". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  6. ^ Ryder, Joy (2009-03-11). "Marco Melandri On Hayate Kawasaki For 2009". Buzzin MotoGP. Buzzin' Fly Limited. Archived from the original on 2009-05-03. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  7. ^ Birt, Matthew (2009-12-28). "Marco Melandri looking for stable future". Motorcycle News. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  8. ^ "Mika Kallio Taking out Marco Melandri". asphaltandrubber.com. Asphalt & Rubber. 2009-08-18. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  9. ^ Birt, Matthew (2010-02-11). "Marco Melandri happy with new Honda policy". Motorcycle News. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  10. ^ Jones, Scott (2009-07-04). "Marco Melandri Interview – "My Goal Is A Good Bike For 2010"". motomatters.com. MotoMatters. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  11. ^ "Melandri: I got it wrong on 2010 debut". crash.net. Crash Media Group. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  12. ^ "Yamaha Sterilgarda confirms Marco Melandri for 2011". Superbike World Championship. Infront Motor Sports. 2010-09-05. Retrieved 2010-09-06. 
  13. ^ "Melandri lines up alongside Haslam for BMW in 2012". Superbike World Championship. Infront Motor Sports. 2 October 2011. Retrieved 3 October 2011. 
  14. ^ "Melandri marks BMW debut with best S1000RR result". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 26 February 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2012. 
  15. ^ "Melandri leads BMW 1–2 at Donington". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 13 May 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012. 
  16. ^ "Melandri: I am living my dream!". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 23 July 2012. Retrieved 25 July 2012. 
  17. ^ "Melandri signs, 2015 MotoGP grid complete". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 10 November 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2015. 
  18. ^ "Michael Laverty replaces Melandri for German GP". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015. 

External links[edit]

Preceded by
Daijiro Kato 		250cc Motorcycle World Champion
2002 		Succeeded by
Manuel Poggiali
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marco_Melandri&oldid=845239203"