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We talked not only about MotoGP in our chat with Marco Melandri at the Mandelli Group booth at EICMA. In addition to giving us his opinion on the duel for the title, and on the possible scenarios we will witness in 2025(HERE the first part of the interview), the rider from Ravenna in fact spoke about what we saw in another paddock he knows well, that of World Superbike. Many topics were addressed, including the dominance of Toprak Razgatlioglu with BMW and the difficult season experienced by Alvaro Bautista.
Marco, how did it feel for you to see Toprak bring to BMW that title you came close to together in 2012?
"It was very nice, because he is a really incredible rider and a really special person. A little bit of regret is there, because the 2012 World Championship was thrown away. When with three races to go we were in the lead, the boss of BMW came and decided to shut everything down, and you can't fight for a World Championship with the whole team looking for work until a quarter of an hour before the race. Anyway, I'm happy, because I know the people behind the project well, they are good and I'm happy for them. From a certain point of view, I can say that they started their experience with me, so I am glad that they started with a group that guided them well. Of which Dosoli and Silvano Galbusera were also part."
Did you expect Toprak to be so competitive that he could win as early as Montmeló?
"Not so much, I don't think anyone expected it. He is a champion, and he was expected to find a BMW that was very powerful but difficult to ride. Instead, the bike was more ready than what the results said. Maybe Toprak does not reflect reality, but neither did what Redding did before. Maybe the bike is a little bit better than what van der Mark does with it, but in my opinion it is not at the level of the Ducati. Toprak, though, has incredible bike control and can handle the tires better than anyone else."
This, however, is a bit a headline "of discord" since so many feel that the championship was distorted by the ballast to Bautista and the Superconcessions enjoyed by BMW. What do you think?
"It is true that Bautista had 6 kilos of ballast from the minimum weight, but the bike is never at the minimum weight. It is always two or three kilos above. So, he must have had about three kilos of ballast, and I when I was racing with the V2 I had three kilos in the seat, even though I didn't have to, because then the bike would ride better. Definitely it is better not to have extra weight, but in my opinion that was not what made Bautista have such a difficult season. Bulega came in and went strong. And then when a rider convinces himself that things are not working, everything is not working after that. It was a combination of things, because the bike did not get worse from last year and Alvaro on paper could do maybe a little bit more than Bulega, who was always close to Toprak. But situations have to be experienced, because from the outside you can have ideas but not certainties."
Do you think the situation will change next year, or will Bautista continue to struggle and Bulega still be the Ducati frontrunner?
"If I look at the ID card, I think he will continue to struggle. Time passes inexorably and the brain does not forget: every time you crash and get hurt, it always reminds you as you ride. Even when you don't want to (he smiles, ed.). Bulega, on the other hand, will start even more convinced than this year and BMW will no longer have concessions, so the match between them will be balanced. I hope to see a fast Bimota, and Honda could also be a nice surprise, because they have improved a lot in the last few races."
Yamaha, on the other hand, how do you see them?
"I see the bike as a bit dated. Now they are too focused in MotoGP to spend and start with a new project in SBK. They will definitely optimize everything. Locatelli, in my opinion, is doing really well, while for Rea I think the same thing applies as before and that it is easier for him to drop rather than improve. Their problem though is that the engine is really running too slow."
Speaking of MotoGP, how did you view Iannone's comeback?
"In my opinion, he also expected more than he did. He was unlucky to do well in the first practice session, because then he raised expectations. Then in the race he did not do well. He didn't do badly at first, but then he dropped so much. He says that physically he struggled, but if you look at him you wonder how it is possible that he was not prepared. Besides, it is not even true that he went better than Bautista. Reality and perception are two different things, and Alvaro really wasn't well, because in the tests he did before he went to Sepang he was fast. It is also true that Iannone had not done any laps beforehand, but that is also why for me a low profile had to be kept and having done well in FP1 for him was not an advantage."
In recent years we have seen that it is complex for an SBK rider to do well in MotoGP. Razgatlioglu, however, has never hidden the fact that getting there is his dream. Do you think he can be competitive there as well?
"It is complex, but Toprak is the only one who could do it. Now the ideal thing for him would be if Pirelli also came to MotoGP. Then he could definitely succeed with a good bike. The problem is just the fact that it is very difficult to use different tires after so many years with Pirelli. MotoGP has a bigger and stiffer front tire. It changes so much at the level of feeling, the carcass, in the way you ride and use the brake, and also in the way you conceive of cornering. For Toprak, however, it is already starting to be late, because he has been in SBK for so many years and once you 'fall asleep' in a category, it becomes difficult when you change to learn more. That's why even those who come from Moto2 and Moto3 stay there only a couple of years and no more. You have to learn how to change."
