Aprilia Racing Team’s Marco Melandri will start tomorrow’s two races at Laguna Seca from the second row, after finishing fifth in the US Round’s Tissot-Superpole, which was contested today under the sunny skies of Central California. The Italian rider reckons he will need to move off well from the grid in both races, if he wants to have a chance to fight for the win.

“On the race tyre I did quite a good lap” said Melandri “unfortunately I was not able to significantly improve when using the qualifying one and this hasn’t been the first time this year. Second row is OK, I surely need a good start because on this track it’s not easy to pass. The rhythm is going to be fast from the beginning, which means I don’t have to lose touch with the leading pack in the early stages. We will see. The team has done a great job and I think we there is still room from improvement before the races.”