How happy were you on the top-5 finish in Monza?

"Monza was great! It's another track that I've not raced for a while, since 2008 I think, so I was surprised to be so competitive straight from the first day. As for the race, I think in the final stint I did what I could, I lost a bit of ground a few laps in and just couldn't bridge the gap to the leaders again. I was closing to the lead in the end but I just ran out of laps. It's my best result of the season so far so generally I'm happy with how it went."

A good result after a difficult start of 2013, especially result-wise.

"My season so far has gotten off to a bumpy start, with two crashes in the first two races. It's clear that I could have had a lot more points on the board by now, but we are starting to get some steady finishes now. To be honest I never expected to be so close to the front, at least not this early in the season."

Are you looking forward to Donington Park?

"I'm really looking forward to it. A few years since I last ride there but it's always been somewhere I loved riding, as it's a great old school natural circuit. Whether I'll be fast or not I don't really know, but I'll definitely have fun!"

Melandri enjoyed some of the most joyful moments of his WSBK career Donington Park, not only by giving BMW their first victory ever in the Championship last year in Race 1, but also by scoring his maiden win in the series in 2011. Despite the eventful final-turn elimination last time out, Melandri is still eagerly awaiting the racing weekend on the 4023m Leicestershire track.

"I really love Donington" said Marco Melandri. "Here I got my first Superbike win with Yamaha in 2011 and the first victory in the history of BMW in the series last year. This is a technical track, quite different from Monza: in Donington you never shift to sixth gear while in Monza you use it three times. The two chicanes in the last part of the Donington circuit seem to be there to keep the field close together. The race will be very open and hard-fought, and if it does not rain, it will be very exciting.

We head to Donington in a better position than last year, even if we did not have a perfect start to the season. In Monza I found the right feeling with the RR. Now I can ride it in the best way and be competitive. I'm looking forward to Donington and I feel really confident. Now I want to fight for the podium at every race and, when it's possible, I want to win."

Chaz Davies has fond memories of Donington Park as well, since it was the first "real circuit" he rode on when he was still a kid. In what is the first of two home rounds for the Welsh rider, Davies aims to fight back for podium positions: "I am looking forward to my first home round. It is always good to meet up with friends and family and to feel the support of your home crowd. Donington was the first proper circuit I rode on, so I have special memories of it - especially the first part of the circuit is enjoyable. To go through ‘Craner Curves' is quite a challenge. Overall, there are two completely different styles of track. You have the fast first part and then the hard braking second part so it is difficult to find a compromise with the set-up. I hope that we will have a smooth and normal weekend. I will try to do a good qualifying and then we will see. Marco was very fast there last year, so the team should have some good data to start with."