Second place in race one for Carlos Checa and fourth place for Melandri in the second race with his beautiful, special-colored Nolan X-802 are the only positive outcomes of a rather unfortunate weekend. The bad luck had already set in with Checa and Melandri during the SuperPole when, for various reasons, they failed to win top positions and were forced to start from sixteenth and thirteenth place. Badovini however achieved the third best time. In the first race Carlos started off quite well and kept up his performance throughout despite making some mistakes which he then rectified, managing to return to second position, which he maintained until the finishing line. Melandri also started well and completed his comeback until fourth place when he was suddenly forced to lose his position due to his tires becoming worn down, forcing him to return to the pit. Tenth place for Camier, eleventh for Badovini, fourteenth for Fabrizio and fifteenth for the wild card Baiocco. The bad luck hit even harder in race number 2 when our two top riders Checa and Melandri tried to take the lead and collided with each other, resulting in Carlos falling with no chance of getting back into the race. The race ended with Marco, sorry for the collision with his friend Checa, coming fourth , Badovini with an excellent performance finishing fifth,Fabrizio sixth and the surprising Matteo Baiocco tenth.
Our riders unfortunately lost points and positions in the standings with Melandri 4th and Checa 5th. The next race is on July 1 in Aragon.
Carlos Checa X-lite X-802:
"Considering our position on the grid, and the fact that it's not at all easy to make passes at Misano, the result in race 1 was pretty good. I admit that I didn't expect to be up there fighting for the win today but I was able to make up ground, which was no easy task! Max was strong today, well done to him and to Davide who rode a fantastic race! Then what can I say about race 2? It seems like this season we are under fire from all sides. Marco pushed me out through the corner, which is strange as he’s normally more careful but anyway that's how it went. It's a real pity as I could have made another good race and taken important points."
Marco Melandri Nolan X-802:
"In race 1 we used the smaller rear tyre, and the grip level was quite ok. Suddenly, after nine or ten laps the grip level dropped down. It took only another couple of laps and the tyre was gone completely. It was impossible to continue riding, so I decided to come back to the garage.
In race 2 we used the bigger rear tyre. I originally preferred this tyre but we only had one to ride before the races. When we tested the bigger tyre in practice, we had more chattering than with the small one, but did not have the opportunity to fix this issue. As a result we focused on the small tyre for race 1. For race 2 we took the risk to go for the bigger tyre. The bike felt much more consistent and the grip level was much better but unfortunately the chattering was still really bad, so overtaking was tough.
On lap 4 I was behind Carlos. I tried to pass him in turn four where I felt strong in braking. We were side by side, so I expected him to see me, but when we started to flick into the corner he seemed not to realize that I was next to him as he touched my leg with his shoulder and he lost the front. I am very sorry. Carlos is a great guy and a fair sportsman.
Here in Misano I raced with a special helmet design. We will organize an auction on eBay in the next couple of days and donate the money to the people in Emilia Romagna who suffered as a result of the earthquake. Just follow me on Twitter and you will find out more about the details."
