Melandri looking forward to his home round
Following the mixed emotions of Portimao, Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) is aiming to score some important results in the upcoming Round 7 of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship, that will take place at Imola's Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on June 28-30. The Italian rider is currently fourth in the points, with a 57 gap from leader Sylvain Giuntoli.
"The season hasn't been an easy one so far" he told WorldSBK.com "due to the injury sustained at Phillip Island and the time needed by the new team to gel together. Once we managed to improve our results some unfortunate events - that were impossible to foresee - have hampered our efforts. Now we need to be up there in every race, of course it'll be tough but there is still a long way until the end of the season."
Despite the difficult results of the past seasons in his home round, Melandri is confident about the next event, as he always like the track on which he scored a 2nd place and a race win in his first two years racing at international level (125cc World Championship, 1998 and 1999).
"Even though the results I had so far at Imola in WSBK, I must say really like the track. It's a very demanding one, as it has a lot of changes of directions and little time to rest, maybe a couple of seconds on the straight. In order to do well you need a bike that's both quick in changing direction and stable under braking. The starting position is also crucial, as there are not many spots for overtaking, because the ideal racing line is basically just one."
