Melandri bidding to bounce back from Yamaha lull

Marco Melandri is hoping solutions trialled during last week’s Misano test will put him in a stronger position for this weekend’s World Superbike Championship at Jerez.

Having started the season strongly aboard the satellite GRT Yamaha R1, Melandri’s form has tailed off in recent rounds with only a single top ten finish from the last seven races.

Blaming a lack of feeling from his Yamaha, Melandri and GRT spent time assessing his options during the Misano test even if he was hampered by inclement weather conditions.

“We found a good base early on the second day of the Misano test, but then we tried different settings to understand better how these impact on the feeling with the bike.

“It's something we just don't have time to do during a race weekend and, while we didn't finish as good as we would like, we did get a lot of information that will allow us to start with a better base this weekend in Jerez.”
 

Scoring a top three finish on his last WorldSBK appearance at Jerez in 2017 when he rode with Ducati. Melandri – who is also a podium finisher at MotoGP level back in 2005 - believes maintaining a consistent race pace will pivotal to a strong result.

“The key to Jerez is race pace; it will be hot and many riders will be fast for just a few laps, but maintaining this pace across race distance will be critical, so that's where we need to focus our efforts this weekend."