After an unlucky start of the season, finally Marco and his Nolan X-802R conquered on the long straights of Monza circuit an historic victory and a second place in the two thrilling races . Marco with deadly heavy braking and two races practically perfect shortens his gap in the championship. Good results also for Michel Fabrizio, 6th and 5th, Leon Camier 9th and 7th, 11th and 9th Badovini, Neukirchner 12th and 10th and 15th and 13th Sandi. Too bad for Carlos Checa who made practices on Friday but was forced to withdraw because of pain in the injured shoulder due to the Australian crash. Championship standing: Melandri 4°, Fabrizio 7°, Camier 10°, Neukirchner 12°, Badovini 13° e Checa 14°. Next race in Donington on 26th of May.
The rider's declarations.
Marco Melandri: Nolan X-802R
"It was an unbelievable day for me. To finish first and second here in Monza is just awesome and it feels great after we had a difficult start to the season. Race one was unbelievable. I knew that my race pace was quite good, even if we struggled a bit in qualifying. When we started, I knew that it would be very tough until the last corner. When Eugene passed me on the last lap, I thought it would be impossible to pass him back again, because he was very good in the turns and he was pulling away. But in the last corner I was quite close, I knew that I could go a little bit faster than the others and so I overtook him and, even though I was a little bit wide, I kept full throttle until the finish line. Until the chequered flag, I was talking to my RR, telling her ‘go, go, go’ – that was incredible.
In the middle of race two I was a little bit faster than the two guys in front of me, but I could not try to pass. But when Sylvain made a little mistake, I overtook him and then tried to catch Eugene, but he was a bit too far away. Anyway, I was also very happy with second place. Now I am confident because I feel that the feeling with the bike is coming back. I can brake and go into corners aggressively, it is my riding style. I am sure that from now on we can fight with the top guys at every race. Thanks a lot to my team because they are working so hard and I am sure our championship will start now. And I also want to say ‘Grazie’ to the many fans who came here today. It was just awesome to see the grandstands."
Michel Fabrizio: X-lite X-802R
?"Michel puts his heart in everything he does. His racing activity has always been coupled with aid for charity, frequently far from the spot lights.
In this occasion, however, Michel asked for the highlights in order to send a message in favour of compassionate treatments.
Little Sofia, in the news because of the denied access to care with stem cells, has always been into Michels and Red Devils teams hearts (lately emotionally involved in the events of the two Italian Marò kept in India also).
The message of love and seek for attention was put into action with the making of an helmet dedicated to little Sofia.
An invitation to fight but also to pay attention send to authorities for this type of problems.
Michel Fabrizio would like to thank Red Devils team and X-Lite and wishes that soon whos in need will never have to quit hoping of healing."
Leon Camier: X-lite X-802R
"I had a pretty good start in the second race and got past Jules on the first lap. I then tried to get in a rhythm and not lose the tow. It took me a lap or two to get the feel and confidence in the brakes because we'd made a change to them for the second race. They felt ok, not as good in performance, but more consistent, so at least I could race with them. The set-up of the bike also worked better and let me do a bit more in the race, but I think the results today are what we can expect at this track. Yoshimura and the Crescent team have done a great job and the engine performance is in a different world to last year, but I don't think we could have done much more here."
Ayrton Badovini: X-lite X-802R
“Race 1 was difficult as we had chattering issues through the fast sections of the track. We solved this in part for the second race by making some changes, or tests, and we saw that something good came out of it. In the coming days we’ll test at Mugello, where the aim will be to focus on what we’ve found here today and try to refine it in preparation for the next races. I’d like to thank all my sponsors, fans and the many Ducatisti who’ve come to cheer us on this weekend – I’m always grateful for their support.”
Carlos Checa: X-lite X-802R
“Unfortunately I folloved the races on the screens tomorrow and I’m very sorry for the Team, the sponsors and the fans that have come to Monza but I’ve already started to work to get back in shape and I’ll continue to work even harder in the coming days to be 100% once more. I’m looking forward to getting back on track at Donington.”
