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With Italian Marco Melandri riding for the official BMW Motorrad Motorsport squad in 2012 alongside Leon Haslam he was given an early opportunity to the ride the S1000RR, and in fact got to ride two. There was the 2011 version, which started out with settings from Leon Haslam on it (because it was one of Leon's own machines), and then a 2012-based machine.

Melandri's ambitions for his first ride on the 2011 were modest, with the championship runner-up stating of his first experience on Haslam's machine, "My target was to understand if the feeling on the bike would be the same as it feels from outside. For sure it was a reference for them but my comments are the same. For sure compared to me Leon is different, sure, but I think the riding style is the main difference. I have been working more on riding position."

Melandri was up to a reasonable speed after only a short period of time on the S1000RR machinery. "I have been quite happy with the lap time today but I was thinking about lap times, so to make it without trying to find a lap time was a good feeling. Now we have to work to grow up."

Marco felt at home on the bike in some regards, but needs further modifications in other regards. "Mainly for me the handlebar position has to change because I am pretty small and they did not have handlebars small enough! Just to bring me closer, to change the angle. I did not touch any traction control. For me it was more important to work on myself and the bike."