Mechanical failure hinders Melandri on Speedcar debut

Monday, 16 February 2009

Italian rider Marco Melandri made his Speedcar Series debut this weekend at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar and was leading the Saturday night contest before a mechanical problem ended his race.

Former 250cc World Champion Marco Melandri had an eventful, if somewhat frustrating, weekend as he made his Speedcar Series debut in Qatar on Friday and Saturday.

The Italian star qualified in a respectable fourth position under the Losail International Circuit’s floodlights on Friday and finished the first race of the weekend in eighth place. Melandri’s compatriot Gianni Morbidelli won the race ahead of second placed fellow Italian and ex-Formula 1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.

On Saturday night Melandri started in pole position and was all set for a shock win as he built up a 7.5s lead by lap nine - before a mechanical fault with four laps to go cut the 2005 MotoGP World Championship runner-up short, handing the victory to Liuzzi.

Melandri commented, “I was concentrating on not making any mistakes, but my gear changes were becoming more difficult, which didn’t make it easy. Then, all of a sudden, there were no more gears and I was out.”