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."

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