Melandri warns of need for time after Qatar return

Always a bluntly realistic rider, Marco Melandri has warned that he will need time to get fully acquainted with the Hayate Racing bike that has salvaged his participation in the 2009 season. The second fastest man on track on Sunday night in Qatar, in a session that saw reduced activity as a result of rainfall, Melandri put in the most laps of any rider -35- as he searched for comfort on the Ninja ZX-RR.

Breaching the 2’01 barrier with his quickest lap as one of only two riders to do so, the former MotoGP World Championship runner-up played down any overly positive conclusions from the Sunday action.

“I need so much more time. I did only a few laps and the times were pretty slow because of the dirty track,” he explained after the session.

“The bike is also completely different to the ’08 that I used in November; I need a few more hours to understand it but the first impression was quite good.”

Melandri was at least familiar with the Qatar track after a recent scouting operation, when he competed at the circuit as part of the Speedcar Series. In between the announcement of his reincorporation into MotoGP and his Sunday test appearance, the Italian also had time to participate in the latest round of the series at Dubai this past weekend –where he finished tenth and eighth.

Results from the Qatar test can be found here.