Marco Melandri

Rider: Marco Melandri
Nickname: Supermarco
Nationality: Italian
Team: Hayate Racing Team
Machine: Kawasaki Ninja ZX-RR (#33)
Born: August 7, 1982 in Ravenna, Italy

Marco Melandri was introduced to a minibike at he age of six and was soon racing through the national leagues toward bigger titles. In 1997 he became known for winning the Italian 125cc championship and finishing 4th in the European 125cc championship, both while he was only fourteen. The next year Benetton Honda made him a regular on the 125cc World circuit. An impressive performance at Assen TT, Netherlands made him the youngest rider at the time to win a Grand Prix. He finished 3rd for the year, and in the next season he miss the Championship title by only one point.

After nearly winning the 125 crown in 98-99, he moved up to the 250 class. He was signed by Aprilia in 2000 to replace Valentino Rossi after he moved into the 500cc championship. Melandri quickly become a fan favorite. His post race wheelies have been well documented in the MotorcycleUSA MotoGP gallery so have a look!
Despite struggling with the larger bike his first year he still managed to place 5th overall. He followed the next year with his first Grand Prix win in the class and took 3rd for the season. 2002 was the year Marco broke through and established himself as one of the premier riders in GP. He dominated the 250 class on his way to his first World Championship. His reward: a factory Yamaha MotoGP ride alongside Carlos Checa on the 4-stroke M1.

"I will never forget going onto the straight for the first time when I first rode the bike," recalled 20-year-old 250cc World Champion. "When I opened the throttle I imagined it would be about twice as powerful as the 250, but I just couldn't believe it. It was at least three times as much."

The Yamaha bikes struggled to keep pace with their Honda and Ducati competitors, leaving Melandri with just two 3rd place finishes for the year. He fared no better the next year after moving to the Tech 3 Yamaha satellite and consequentially was released from his contract in 2004. Melandri was down, but not out.

In 2005 Fausto Gresini picked up Melandri to race for the Movistar Honda team alongside Sete Gibernau. Melandri turned out to be a good fit for the Honda RC211V. He racked-up a series of podium finishes and caped the season off with back-to-back wins in Turkey and Valencia, finishing the season as a strong-runner up to the Champion, Valencio Rossi. The next year saw him riding beside Toni Elias on Gresini's Fortuna Honda Team. Melandri was right up with the championship leaders when a nasty first-turn pileup at Catalunya spoiled his championship intentions. Instead Supermarco had to settle for 4th overall. Entering 2007, the Italian star remained with the Gresini Honda team, although sponsorship changed from Fortuna to Hannspree. Also new for 2007 was the switch from Michelin to Bridgestone rubber. With the Italian earning a fifth-place in the championship Ducati decided to draft him to ride on their factory 2008 team. With the same machine that Stoner used to smoke the class in '07, Melandri has no excuse to make a bid for the title.

2008 proved disatrous. Bad blood soon developed between the vocal Italian and Marlboro Ducati. He signed a two year contract with Kawasaki, but Kawasaki unexpectedly pulled their MotoGP factory support for 2009. However, Marco Melandri will contest the 2009 season as a Hayate Racing rider on a Ninja ZX-RR with no further factory development.

Career Highlights:
2008 - 17th MotoGP (Ducati)
2007 - 5th MotoGP (Honda)
2006 - 4th MotoGP (Honda)
2005 - 2nd MotoGP (Honda)
2004 - 12th MotoGP (Yamaha) 2003 - 15th MotoGP (Yamaha)
2002 - 1st 250 World Championship (Aprilia
2001 - 3rd 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
2000 - 5th 250 World Championship (Aprilia)
1999 - 2nd 125 World Championship (Honda)
1998 - 3rd 125 World Championship (Honda)
1997 - 1st 125 Italian Championship (Honda)
1997 - 1st 125 Honda Trophy (Honda)
1997 - 4th 125 World Trophy (Honda)
1996 - 125 Italian Championship (Honda)
1996 - 13th 125 World Trophy (Honda)