Marco Melandri didn't suffer any serious injuries, and this is the most important and positive fact of the day. Of course, because of this crash at the beginning of race one, Marco should probably say goodbye to the dream of wining the World title (-38.5 points behind with two races to go) but his season was definitely positive. Marco started from the fourth place of the front row with Carlos Checa second. At the curve 13th of the first lap, to respond to an overtaking of his rival Biaggi, unfortunately he touched with him and crashed then he was hit by the falling bike of another rider which followed him. With back he was taken to hospital for tests, examinations showed a renal contusion without consequences. Come on Marco, we are all with you.
The race was then interrupted by the fall of a competitor due to oil on the track. The second part of the race showed us a strong Checa with second place. Position ninth, tenth and eleventh respectively for Badovini, Fabrizio and Camier. It should be also emphasized in race two fifth place of Carlos Checa Badovini in sixth and Fabrizio in eight. Too bad for the withdrawal of Camier on the last lap while fighting for the podium. The ranking sees Melandri in third place and Checa in fourth. The last race at Magny Cours will be October 7.
Here the rider's declarations
MARCO MELANDRI - Nolan X-802
"Once more it was a very bad day for me. When Max Biaggi passed me I kept my inside line and I did not really see him. I just heard the sound of somebody touching the front of my bike and I went down and I felt something hit my back. I was very worried about my back, kidney or liver because it hurt very badly. Fortunately the medical exams show that everything is okay. Now it is a bit better because I took a lot of painkillers, but I still don’t feel very well."
CARLOS CHECA - X-lite X-802
"Second position is very positive, considering the rain, and the fact that the race was stopped. It was difficult because Tom defended himself well and it was very risky to overtake. I had to be careful to control tyre wear as it was drying out later in the race of course. At the end I tried to improve my pace, and maybe I had better pace than Tom in the final stages but I could see no clear place to overtake. Anyway we are very happy, I thank my team that has done a great job all weekend; this is a great result. In the second race I was there with the leading group but then I had a problem and I couldn’t push, I didn’t know what it was but I deactivated and then reactivated the traction control and this seemed to solve it. I was able to catch up a lot of positions but it wasn’t easy, the bike wasn’t as easy to ride as it had been in the practice sessions. Considering all that happened I think fifth is a good result. Now we will concentrate on finishing the season in the best possible way at Magny-Cours."
