This weekend the Yamaha World Superbike team will have another chance to reach the podium. Marco Melandri has already taken one race win so far this season, but a DNF at Assen drops him down to third place, more than 40 points behind Carlos Checa.
Melandri has been a consistent top five rider this season and has scored three podiums out of six races so far. Melandri will have a disadvantage going into this weekend’s race, however, as the Italian rider has only raced once on the Monza track, and that was more than a decade ago when he was 14-years-old.
“I’m not really familiar with Monza, it’s a new track to me and I’m really curious to try it out on my R1 and see how it goes,” Melandri said. “I rode the track once in 1996 but I can’t even remember it now! It’s a very fast flowing track with some tight corners and I’m really looking forward to riding it this weekend. The team have been working hard on the data we picked up in Assen and let’s hope that we’ve found an improved set up. I’m sure I can be as competitive as anyone and can be back on the podium again this weekend.”
Melandri’s teammate Eugene Laverty will also be racing for the first time at Monza aboard the R1. Laverty, however, did race at the Italian circuit in 2010, where he won the Supersport race.
I’m really Looking forward to this weekend in Monza,” Laverty said. “In 2010 I won the World Supersport race and I’m now curious to try it on the Superbike. It’s the fastest track on the calendar and I’m excited about the thought of reaching speeds of even up to 330km/h. Assen went well in so far as we made progress on the set up of the bike and the team have since made further progress. I’m pretty sure we can show our true potential in Monza and I’m confident that the package is worthy of a podium at the team’s home race. I’m looking forward to a good weekend!”
