Japan top six is just a start for Melandri
Added on Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Japan top six is just a start for Melandri
Marco Melandri put his off-season troubles behind him at Motegi to put in one of the rides of the weekend, securing an impressive sixth position.
The solo Hayate Racing rider put in a near faultless performance in Japan on Sunday after a disastrous pre-season which had left him facing a season in the job centre before a last minute rescue deal was put together.
After agreeing a release from his nightmare at Ducati last season, Melandri reportedly snubbed a return to his former team Grensini Honda to agree a deal with the Kawasaki factory team.
But the Italian was left in limbo at the turn of the New Year as Kawasaki pulled the plug on their MotoGP projects for 2009, leaving him and teammate John Hopkins without a ride for 2009.
Lengthy discussions and legal threats ensured that the Kawasaki ZX-10RR at least remained on the grid for 2009 with Hayate Racing eventually taking over the running of a single-rider team, although there were few expectations of the new start-up who had little time to work with what was already a notoriously uncompetitive bike.
But a sixth place finish on Sunday demonstrated the potential of the Kawasaki and Melandri believes that the result is just the start of something bigger.
“This can be the starting point for something good. I started well, and when (Andrea) Dovizioso made a mistake I got past him. I knew that my pace wasn’t like that of the top three, but we were keeping it consistent and we definitely had a good race.”
The 26-year-old also revelled in a brief battle with former teammate Casey Stoner, who eventually finished two places ahead in fourth.
“It was fun to fight with the top guys, and the overtaking move on Stoner was greatly satisfying for me,” he added.
