After conquering the Superpole on Saturday, Marco Melandri wearing his Nolan X-802 rode to a spectacular victory in Sunday’s Race 1, and 2nd place in Race 2.
A little dejected in previous races, Marco has found his self-confidence which has boosted his moral. Race 1 was hard-fought and he was able to make a difference against Biaggi in the final laps.
In Race 2 he was constantly ‘at his opponent’s wheel’, until he almost fell on lap 17 with a loss of grip that made him settle for a well-deserved second place.
"I had a pretty amazing day”,said Marco Melandri. “Max was very strong and consistent so it wasn’t easy to pass him in either races but thankfully I managed to succeed in race 1. I felt good on the bike and gained confidence which was very important. In Race 2 the track was hotter than in race one, making it more difficult for the tyres. Towards the end I felt I was about to lose the front and while trying to avoid going wide my foot slipped on the pedal. It was a really good race though, I’m happy. I want to thank my team and Yamaha for doing a great job again this weekend."
Unfortunately, it did not go so well for our championship leader Carlos Checa (X-lite X-802), who certainly hoped to do better in his ‘home race’. Starting from the front row in fourth position in Race 1, Carlos needed time to find the right pace, but when he finally seemed to be getting competitive, he slipped badly, hitting his shoulder on the ground and making the first “0” of the season.
Race 2 didn’t start well either, at the end of the first lap, Carlos had already lost two places, but a more cautious conduct of the race and a steady pace enabled him to reach the lowest rung of the podium with a well-earned third place.
“I am disappointed”, admitted Carlos, “because it would have been fantastic to win here in front of the Spanish fans. We didn’t need the Race 1 crash. I was pushing hard to close the gap between me and the leader and I slipped. I was slowly catching them and so I’m sorry because it could have been a great race. I don’t know if I would have been able to win but I wanted to at least catch them. Anyway, this is racing and I was lucky to be able to take part in Race 2, despite some shoulder pain. This was a lesson today and I will learn from it. We changed the tyre for Race 2 and this was an intelligent decision but I wasn’t able to close the gap that opened between me and the leaders. In the final stages the bike began to move around and I couldn’t gain any more ground. I am however satisfied. We know that we’re in great shape, me, the team, the bike and we’ll go the next round at Brno where we’ll continue to fight for race wins and for the championship.”
Congratulations to Ayrton Badovini (X-lite X-802), who came 8th in Race 1 and 10th in Race 2.
Carlos is still in first place with 261 points, Marco is third with 195 points and Ayrton 10th with 86.
Next race will be on July 10 at Brno.
