Melandri cools Gresini talk
Added on Friday, July 24th, 2009 by Carole Nash Editor
Melandri cools Gresini talk
Marco Melandri has played down rumours that he has already signed a contract with Gresini Honda next season, insisting that his future is still unsettled.
Strong rumours in the MotoGP paddock have linked the former Ducati rider with a return to the team he left in 2007, partnering him with Marco Simoncelli at the Gresini team.
Melandri, who was left facing a year without a job following Kawasaki’s decision to withdraw from MotoGP earlier this year, managed to secure a ride with the makeshift Kawasaki-powered Hayate team and has gone on to put in some strong performances including a podium finish in France back in May.
But the Italian has insisted that nothing has been agreed yet regarding his future and that he remains in talks with a number of parties, but that he did hope to have something in place for Brno.
“Everybody is saying I am already with Honda but it is not like this,” he at yesterday’s Donington Park press conference. “For sure I hope to have good news at Brno so that I can have a good summer holiday.
“This time we are talking to everybody actually just to understand the situation and let the people know we are free. Like I said everybody thinks I am already with Gresini but it is not like that. It is just talk.
“I would like it actually because I want to be sure for next year, but I don’t know now. But I am happy anyway, much more than I was last year.”
Melandri added that he was uncertain whether Hayate would continue to run the Kawasaki in 2010, with Japanese manufacturer still keen to pull the plug on its MotoGP activities in an effort to cut costs.
“I asked [team boss] Mr Yoda at the Sachsenring what is going on with Kawasaki next year and it doesn’t look a very nice situation actually,” said Melandri. “So even though the results are quite good with very low money, it looks like Kawasaki want to stop.
“But I am pretty sad about that because I think the bike has a good base. If you worked a little bit more you could develop the bike in a good way. For sure you cannot win but you can be very to the top every Sunday.”
