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SBK, Melandri: "Ridiculous. They finished the track on Wednesday."

"An absurd situation. Oil was seeping from the tarmac, and it wasn't safe. The FIM should have inspected it a month before."

SBK: Melandri: "Ridiculous. They finished the track on Wednesday."

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It's the second time that the Superbike races at the Villicum, and this edition will definitely not be forgotten. As we all know, six riders decided not to take part in Race 1, which was scheduled for Saturday at 9pm, Italian time. Among these were also the riders from the GRT team, namely Sandro Cortese and Marco Melandri.

The rider from Romagna, who will be leaving the derivatives at the end of the season, wanted to intervene on the matter and express his opinion. #33 didn't mince words to express his ideas.

"What's there to say after today," said Melandri, speaking with Speedweek. "  think it was a surreal and ridiculous situation because of the track conditions. On some parts of the track, the tarmac had only been finished on Wednesday."

The GRT rider then went into detail.

"What happened? The temperatures were getting hotter, and the oil was seeping from the tarmac. It was impossible to ride on it. I think everyone saw the situation during the weekend and the various falls that happened. For me, safety comes first and foremost and, consequently, you couldn't race in those conditions.

Melandri then revealed what went on behind the scenes.

"Almost all the riders agreed to change the weekend format, opting to race two races on Sunday, since the temperature would have been lower than on Saturday. In the end, however, some decided to race, saying they had received pressure from their teams."

So #33 wanted to make things clear.

"We didn't have the necessary safety conditions on the track, and that's why I decided not to race. It was dangerous. The FIM should have inspected it at least a month before, in order to evaluate the conditions of the track, to make sure everything was okay, but it went differently. I'm sorry, but safety comes before anything else."

     

Translated by Leila Myftija
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