Attending Vmoto's Proday at Misano, Marco Melandri went wild on a 'hot' day off and on the track in the company of many motorsport names. From Capirossi and Jorge Lorenzo, to Bezzecchi, Rivola and many others. It was therefore an opportunity to exchange a few words with the 250 cc world champion on the latest news about the MotoGP championship, from the dominance of Marc Marquez and Ducati, to the difficulties of Bagnaia. From the impasse between Martin and Aprilia and his possible solutions.
"A 'hot' day from all points of view," Melandri began, "from the weather to the spirit on the track, we found ourselves among former riders but the desire to be behind no one had it. We had a good tussle, me Loris, Jorge, we had a good time and it was nice to see Bezzecchi riding closely, you see the generational change. We could use more days like that, testing bikes and being with friends, it was great."
The MotoGP championship is in Marc Marquez's hands, with a tense Bagnaia caught between technical difficulties and the burden of sharing the box with the Spanish rider.
"I think everything depends on Marquez's speed, because Bagnaia is not going any slower than last year. At Mugello the heat affected him, but without the two Marquez with his current level Bagnaia would win all the races, but needing to go faster by necessity problems emerge, when you have to go beyond what is possible. At the moment he's been banging on the brakes, surely his difficulty is there even seeing Marc's data. Improving is not easy, it depends a lot on the riding style, in the footage you can see that Marc brakes much softer the first braking and uses the rear first, so the bike 'sits' and the rear stays on the ground. Pecco, on the other hand, is more aggressive so he unloads the rear immediately. Stopping a bike with one wheel instead of two becomes more complex."
Marc also dominated at Mugello and Assen, circuits that on paper favored Bagnaia. Do you think he is approaching the GP25 in the right way?
"From the outside it's easy to give solutions. Changing your riding style is impossible and unnatural. So you have to look for something from the bike that meets your needs. You have to try to forget about Marquez and focus on your own feeling. Then if even when he is comfortable Marquez was faster, I know it's bad to say but at races someone always comes along who is faster."
Marquez has lived through the era of Stoner, Lorenzo, Rossi, Pedrosa. Now he faces a younger generation.
"Marc won in his first year in MotoGP, I think rivals are not his problem. He won with a bike that wasn't the most competitive right away, something that I always pointed out and a lot of people didn't believe. So the track factor favorable to this or that rider with Ducati no longer exists. It used to be that way because with the Honda on some tracks Marc really struggled. Now that the best rider is on the best bike ... I'm not saying it was predictable but Dall'Igna when he chose Marc knew it."
The breaking of the idyll between Martin and Aprilia still inflames the rider market, so there are also rumors about the possible successor for the second Aprilia seat.
"I would see Enea as a good fit there, after such a year the desire for redemption is even greater. When you see him on the KTM it's like seeing a hovercraft, the bike is stiff and he has no feeling with the tires. In that situation I see myself again in 2008, Aprilia in my opinion could be the right environment for him, it is a family team and the characteristics of the bike could be suitable for him."