Marco Melandri’s victory and second place at Monza gave the Italian just the right confidence boost to get back into the World Superbike championship fray even if he’s fourth in the standings and 41 points from standings leader Sylvain Guintoli.
The BMW Goldbet rider seemed to find a good set-up at the high speed Italian circuit and more importantly a good feeling with his BMW after so many races with chatter issues that hampered his riding.
“We head to Donington in a better position than last year, even if we did not have a perfect start to the season.
In Monza I found the right feeling with the RR.
Now I can ride it in the best way and be competitive,” said Melandri.
“I’m looking forward to Donington and I feel really confident.
Now I want to fight for the podium at every race and, when it’s possible, I want to win.
”Melandri who lives or used to live in Derby since 2001, loves the British circuit where he took his first Superbike win in 2011 and gave BMW their first ever Superbike victory.
“I really love Donington.
Here I got my first Superbike win with Yamaha in 2011 and the first victory in the history of BMW in the series last year.
This is a technical track, quite different from Monza.
In Donington you never shift to sixth gear while in Monza you use it three times.
The two chicanes in the last part of the Donington circuit seem to be there to keep the field close together.
The race will be very open and hard-fought, and if it does not rain, it will be very exciting.
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