Marco Melandri

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Marco Melandri, born on August 7, 1982, is an Italian motorcycle road racer.

Sandro Cortese, a teammate, rode in the Superbike World Championships for Italy-based GRT team, using Yamaha R1 machines in his last competitive season.

Melandri proposed his retirement at the end of the season in July 2019, finishing fifth in the 2018 riders' championship. Melandri was the 2002 250 cc World Champion and finished second overall in the 2005 MotoGP series.

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Career

Melandri was born in Ravenna. Loris Reggiani, a former racer, was introduced to racing at the age of six. He came from minibikes, motocross, and then the Italian and European 125cc championships.

Melandri won the Italian 125cc championship in 1997, after placing fourth in the European 125cc championship. In addition to his European success, he made his debut as a wild card rider in Brno, Czech Republic, in 125cc world championship.

Melandri, who excelled in the Italian and European championships in 1997, has now qualified in the 1998 125cc world championship as a regular. He rode his Honda 125cc bike for Benetton Honda. He continued to impress many in his first podium finish in the season's fourth race, where he finished second in his home Grand Prix in Mugello, Italy. His stellar debut season continued in 2010 when he captured his first grand prix in Assen, Netherlands. He won this race at the age of 15 years and 324 days, making him the youngest ever Grand Prix champion at the time. In total, he won two Grand Prix in his debut year, placing him in third place in overall rankings behind champion Kazuto Sakata and runner-up Tomo Manako.

In 1999, he rode the same bike and crew, winning the 125cc world championship. He went on to win 5 Grand Prix but then fell short of winning the championship, finishing second, behind Emilio Alzamora by only a single point difference. The failure in winning his first world championship did not deter his aspiration to the 250cc world championship in 2000.

Melandri was signed by April 2000 to replace another Italian Valentino Rossi who had left the team and 250cc class for 500 Cc class. He was expected to take over Rossi's shoes and win the 250cc world championship. However, his debut season did not start as well as the hopes. He had trouble adapting to a bigger bike and higher competition. In 2000, he failed to win any Grand Prix, but instead of four podiums, which brought them all late in the season. Despite these challenges, he also ranks fifth in overall rankings for the season.

His results were improving in 2001. At Sachsenring, Germany, he won his first 250cc Grand Prix. However, it was his first victory in 2001. Despite his ability to appear on nine occasions, he never really fought for the title. He finished the season in third place behind champion Daijiro Kato and runner-up Tetsuya Harada.

Melandri's had a chance to shine in 2002. Kato and Harada, the 2001 champion and runner-up, have risen to MotoGP class, making him the top contender for the championship. He dominated the season with 9 victories and three additional podiums. He finally won the 250cc world championship after competing for years. He was the youngest 250cc world champion at the age of 20 years and 74 days before Dani Pedrosa broke his records in 2004.

Melandri, who won the 250cc world championship in 2002, resigned from the MotoGP class to spearhead the Yamaha factory team alongside Carlos Checa in 2003, replacing the departing Max Biaggi. The Yamaha was less competitive than Honda and Ducati, and although Melandri at times looked to be able to turn this into good results, Melandri was unable to turn this into positive results. He ended the season in his fifteenth position in eighth place, without winning or placing podiums.

He joined Yamaha's Satellite Team, Tech3 in 2004 alongside Norick Abe in order to make room for the new Valentino Rossi. He had yet to produce top results this season. Despite achieving two consecutive podiums, a string of accidents and retirements kept him out of the top ten in overall standings. He finished the season in his twelfth position.

Melandri, who was released from his Yamaha contract after the 2004 season, was the surprise pick of boss Fausto Gresini to join Sete Gibernau in the Movistar Honda team for the 2005 MotoGP season. Melandri was profitable with Movistar Honda in 2005, winning his first two races of the season, earning his first two titles in the second two races of 2005. He was the first Honda rider to win back-to-back races for nearly two years in Valencia, winning the final two rounds of the MotoGP Championship at Istanbul and Valencia. Although he never fully challenged Valentino Rossi for the title, he ended the season as runner-up, with two victories and five others podiums.

Melandri rode for Gresini's Fortuna Honda team with Toni Elas in the 2006 season. Rossi, a prolific rider, was a major challenger, along with Ducati's Loris Capirossi and Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa, who were struggling to find rhythm. Despite starting from fourteenth on the grid, he won at Istanbul once more. He has won further accolades at Le Mans, France, and Phillip Island, Australia. He ended the season in fourth place, just one point behind Capirossi.

Melandri and Elias stayed in the Honda Gresini team in 2007, which is now sponsored by Hannspree. The 800cc machine of Honda was not competitive. Melandri rode on the podium at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Le Mans, becoming the first Honda riders to win multiple podiums. He finished fifth overall, second only to Pedrosa among the Honda riders.

Ducati reported that he and Casey Stoner would both compete in the 2007 USA's MotoGP round immediately after Melandri's 3rd-place finish in the 2007 MotoGP round. But 2008 was disastrous, with a string of uncompetitive runs leaving him behind the semi-works Alice Team bikes of Toni Elas and Sylvain Guintoli. He qualified last and continued running at Assen and was unstoppable throughout. Melandri announced that he would continue racing with Kawasaki in the 2009 MotoGP season, while his new teammate John Hopkins was spotted on August 19th. He then finished the season in a disappointing 17th place.

Despite Kawasaki's reluctant rear traction, the bike was turned off for 2009, causing fears that Melandri will not have a ride, but a rescue deal was reached to allow Melandri to ride the bike for a one-bike semi-works Hayate Racing team. Melandri's first podium appearance since 2007 at the wet French motorcycle Grand Prix in 2009 was his 2nd-place finish. In the first three races, his only other top-six finishes were in the first three events, with the team battling bike repair and Melandri finishing tenth overall. Before a penultimate-lap collision between the two teams at Brno, he fought Mika Kallio for sixth.

Melandri Honda returned to Gresini Honda in 2010 with a factory-spec RC212V bike from the start. During his first Gresini spell, full factory assistance had been promised but not provided. In the first testing, the team made setup mistakes.

Melandri joined the Yamaha World Superbike Team in 2011, replacing Cal Crutchlow, who was transferred to MotoGP's Tech3 team.

Melandri signed a two-year deal with the BMW World Superbike team in the 2012 season on October 2nd, 2011, after Yamaha decided not to continue with a factory team after the 2011 season. Melandri achieved BMW's best result in the Superbike World Championship for the second time, winning second place in the season-opening competition at Phillip Island, starting 13th on the grid. Mixed results followed at Imola, Assen, and Monza, but Melandri claimed BMW's first Superbike World Championship victory at Donington Park, leading home teammate Leon Haslam in a 1–2 finish. Melandri and Haslam collided in the meeting's second run, leaving BMW's weekend sweeps out. Melandri came from winning races at Miller Motorsport Park, Motorland Aragón, and a double at Brno, getting within 21 points of Max Biaggi's championship lead.

Melandri will be the replacement of Leon Camier with the Barni Ducati Racing Team for the remainder of the season 2020, according to the team's website on July 16, 2020. After fractured his shoulder and wrist, Camier was not recovered from a shoulder injury during winter training at Motorland Aragon.

Malgré Melandri's disappointing performances and the wish for the Barni team's continued success with their younger rider Samuele Cavalieri, who was promoted from their debut in the Italian national CIV Superstock race class, another retirement announcement was made midway through the season in September 2020.

Melandri will rejoin Gresini, Aprilia's factory team, for the 2015 season, as it was revealed in November 2014. Melandri left the team and was replaced by Michael Laverty and then Stefan Bradl after struggling to score a point in the first eight races of the season.

Melandri has also participated in car racing in addition to his motorcycle racing career. He appeared in two rounds of the 2008-09 Speedcar Series season, receiving two points from the four races.

Career statistics

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, while italics indicate fastest lap) -

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; times in italics indicate the fastest lap)

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