Melandri struggling

[RaikkonenRules]

Anyone know why Marco Melandri is dwon in 17th in 3rd practice. He was 16th in 2nd as well. :(

[Corny]

no confidence in honda's front end, lack of HP, maybe lack of motivation?

he was really pushing yesterday!

[leopard]

Anyone know why Marco Melandri is dwon in 17th in 3rd practice. He was 16th in 2nd as well. :(
He was in 2nd or 3rd of Assen 05 if I can remember correctly, wasn't he?

[Corny]

second in 2005 yes..

[Ranger]

Apparently he had a minor tanty after that race yesterday... It looked like he had given up before the line!

[Mach24]

Melandri is pissed because he made the wrong call with regards to teams in 07.

I see why he stuck with Honda, but at best he is third string behind the Repsol bikes.

Melandri (as with the rest of us) expected Honda to come out with something special and dominate and he was hoping to show up the factory guys and get the good bits quicker.

Honda will come out of the mess they are in and have been doing so (if slowly). However I think Melandri is now a distant third in the order and Honda's sole focus must be on the factory squad to save face before seasons end.

If the story is true Melandri was in line for a ride on a red machine made by an Italian company which a young Aussie is now riding, but chose to stick with the might of the big H.

In life we all make decisions that sometimes are questionable.... It is how we recover from these decisions that prove our worth. Chin up!

[tha_jackal]

Apparently he had a minor tanty after that race yesterday... It looked like he had given up before the line!

He punched a hole in his front screen as he rolled over the line, I dont think he liked being beaten by Ant :D

[Mach24]

He punched a hole in his front screen as he rolled over the line, I dont think he liked being beaten by Ant :D

Nor did he like getting beaten by the other 8 riders in front of Ant.

[NinjaMaster]

Melandri is pissed because he made the wrong call with regards to teams in 07.

I see why he stuck with Honda, but at best he is third string behind the Repsol bikes.

Melandri (as with the rest of us) expected Honda to come out with something special and dominate and he was hoping to show up the factory guys and get the good bits quicker.

Honda will come out of the mess they are in and have been doing so (if slowly). However I think Melandri is now a distant third in the order and Honda's sole focus must be on the factory squad to save face before seasons end.

If the story is true Melandri was in line for a ride on a red machine made by an Italian company which a young Aussie is now riding, but chose to stick with the might of the big H.

In life we all make decisions that sometimes are questionable.... It is how we recover from these decisions that prove our worth. Chin up!
Stoner was 4th in line for the Ducati ride. Melandri turned it down because he was promised a factory Honda which usually means the top machine in a field. And apparently he's not the only one who has cracked it with Honda with Pedrosa allegedly issuing an ultimatum to the Big H to get competitive or he'll quit. Dovizioso is another who may not stay with the biggest manufacturer next year with rumours linking him to Ducati. So in a complete reverse of the usual, it appears Honda the team everyone wants to be at.

[drumfu]

Melandri wanted to go to Ducati. The reason he did not is because his contract with Gresini had a you-have-to-stay-if-we-match-the-offer-option. Gresini wanted to keep Melandri and matched Ducati's offer so Melandri was bound by contract to stay with Gresini.

[T-D]

Melandri wanted to go to Ducati. The reason he did not is because his contract with Gresini had a you-have-to-stay-if-we-match-the-offer-option. Gresini wanted to keep Melandri and matched Ducati's offer so Melandri was bound by contract to stay with Gresini.this is accurate. marco is very unhappy right now because he sees himself on the ducati winning races, not on the undeveloped rc212v. i don't think he will give honda another chance next year. he will either ride for kwack or for ducati alongside stoner.

[tha_jackal]

I dont think there's any evidence to suggest that Melandri would be competetive just because he got aboard the Ducati. Look at Capirossi, both him and Marco were on fire last year, regularly running up the front and in with a shot at the title, until the unfortunate carnage at Barcelona. This year Capirossi and Melandri are about on a par as fas as results come.

My logic behind this is simply that the Ducati package (Ducati/Bridgestone) is working PERFECTLY for Casey and not for Loris, Stoner is obviously EXTREMELY comfortable with the front end feel of the Bridgestones and is able to get the most out of the Duc riding a mixture of smooth/ragged when he has to (look how many times Casey lost the front in 06.)

I think Marco just needs to zip his lip, put his head down, bear the bad times for now (gee its such a hard life) and re-launch his season after the mid-year break, when all the Honda customer teams will be receiving the 'same updates' that have seen Pedrosa and Hayden head towards the pointy end of the field. He can then focus on 08 when Honda will be right back where it wants to be. Keep in mind, Gresini is not a bad team at all (Gibbernau 03/04) and any rider that heads there in 08 will be achieving good results. ( i hope :D )

[Mach24]

/I think Marco just needs to zip his lip, put his head down, bear the bad times for now (gee its such a hard life) and re-launch his season after the mid-year break, when all the Honda customer teams will be receiving the 'same updates' that have seen Pedrosa and Hayden head towards the pointy end of the field. He can then focus on 08 when Honda will be right back where it wants to be. Keep in mind, Gresini is not a bad team at all (Gibbernau 03/04) and any rider that heads there in 08 will be achieving good results. ( i hope :D )

I sought of agree with you except Gresini will always be number 2 at best. Even if Honda dominate next year it would be tough to win the championship from the Gresini seat unless they get the factory bike which really came about because of Katoh (RIP).

Melandri is no mug and under the right circumstances he will do a lot of damage. I see him at Ducati next year, the young Italian replacing the old.

[drumfu]

I dont think there's any evidence to suggest that Melandri would be competetive just because he got aboard the Ducati. Look at Capirossi, both him and Marco were on fire last year, regularly running up the front and in with a shot at the title, until the unfortunate carnage at Barcelona. This year Capirossi and Melandri are about on a par as fas as results come.

My logic behind this is simply that the Ducati package (Ducati/Bridgestone) is working PERFECTLY for Casey and not for Loris, Stoner is obviously EXTREMELY comfortable with the front end feel of the Bridgestones and is able to get the most out of the Duc riding a mixture of smooth/ragged when he has to (look how many times Casey lost the front in 06.)

I think Marco just needs to zip his lip, put his head down, bear the bad times for now (gee its such a hard life) and re-launch his season after the mid-year break, when all the Honda customer teams will be receiving the 'same updates' that have seen Pedrosa and Hayden head towards the pointy end of the field. He can then focus on 08 when Honda will be right back where it wants to be. Keep in mind, Gresini is not a bad team at all (Gibbernau 03/04) and any rider that heads there in 08 will be achieving good results. ( i hope :D )

you say there's no evidence that marco would go fast on a ducati, but last year there was even less evidence that stoner would go fast on a ducati. don't forget ducati only went with stoner after a bunch of others passed... i think he was the 4th choice. in fact, most of the buzz was people questioning ducati's choice of stoner wondering why they picked a crash-prone rider for the factory team. in '06, marco and casey were both on hondas with michelins and marco did much better than stoner garnering multiple victories. saying that there's no evidence that marco would go fast on a duc is saying that there's even less evidence that casey would go fast on a duc, but we all see what he's doing this year.

asking marco to keep quiet about the obvious deficiencies with his bike is asking a racer to change whatever it is inside them that makes them want to race. i seem to remember stoner publicly complaining about his bike last year as well and he was on the package everybody said you needed to win; honda on michelins. why didn't stoner zip his lip and stay with his honda team? you're asking marco to do the very thing that stoner didn't.

finally, think back to when the last time a non-factory team won the championship? exactly. gresini won't win a championship. in fact, it'll be a long time before any satellite team does. unless you have a Rossi/Doohan/Rainey move to a very very good satellite team with an excellent chief engineer, it's never going to happen.

[Mach24]

Seems to have been a major improvement at Gresini, Melandri is right there for Sexinthering!

[Corny]

so far, yes!

[tha_jackal]

3rd is a good boost for Marco, lets hope he can stick with the pace of Stoner and Pedders... I doubt it though, so does he..