Melandri keeping eye on flag-to-flag possibility

Marco Melandri would probably be more pleased than most riders to see a change in conditions midway through the British Grand Prix, as one of the most successful riders in flag-to-flag races. There is a possibility of such a situation arising at Donington Park, thus the Italian was analysing the exact point of peak performance during Friday afternoon’s drying Free Practice session.

“We could understand a bit how the bike works on the full wet tyres here today, and also try to understand when would be the best time to change bikes in the race if conditions were to be like that,” Melandri stated after placing sixth in the timed run with a 1’39.130 lap.

“I’m confident, because I feel good on the bike and in the dry I also think that we can get a good rhythm going.”

Looking for further rear grip in the dry ahead of qualifying, the Hayate Racing rider is happy with his wet weather performance but still hopeful of a rain-free race.

“I would prefer to have a dry race because on this track it is very risky all the time. The grip level in the wet is very bad and it is difficult to work the left side of the tyre up to temperature during the race when you can’t wait many laps.”

Melandri stunned with a second place flag-to-flag finish at the French round of the MotoGP World Championship at Le Mans, and was also the winner of the inaugural race to use the format back in 2006 at Phillip Island, Australia.