Marco Melandri we saw him again this year in the Superbike paddock starting from the Barcelona tests. As we well know, the former rider has decided to support Axel Bassani in his new adventure at Kawasaki, making all his experience gained in over 30 years of racing available to the Venetian rider.
We shared a long chat with the man from Ravenna, talking about Axel’s growth on the Kawasakias well as the current world championship challenge which sees Toprak leading the standings ahead of the Ducatis and at the same time the return of Iannone to racing.
There was also a mention of the crisis that Rea is experiencing and the surprise represented by Nicolò Bulega. In this first part of the interview with the former rider from Romagna, the hot topic was Toprak Razgatlioglu, current leader of the World Championship.
Clear and transparent words spoken by Melandri, who is enjoying a bit of relaxation in the company of his family without giving up a great passion, namely that of deejaying.
“Since I was 12 years old, I have had the passion to become a deejay one day – he began – now that I have some free time I don’t give up making music and at the same time continuing to race the electric bike. Then, as you have seen, I followed Bassani in this first part of the season, trying to make my experience available to him to help him grow and improve.”
In Misano, at the end of Race 1, we saw Toprak hugging you…
“I have had an excellent relationship with him that has lasted since 2017 and it is a pleasure to see him again, because he is a good person. I think Razgatlioglu is a great champion, a very talented rider and he is clearly visible to everyone. He won a World Championship with Yamaha and is now first in the Championship with BMW. To date, he is the one who is making the difference with the M 1000 RR and you can see the comparison with the other bikes.”
What did you think of him?
“In my opinion, neither Marquez nor Stoner have the control of the bike like Toprak. He has an ability to insert the bike like no other. He has extreme confidence in the machine and you can see it with the naked eye. In a short time he managed to tailor the BMW to his needs, overcoming the difficulties and I think he will be the one to take home the World Championship this year. Obviously the challenge is open, but now there are tracks that are favorable to him with the only unknown being Jerez if the temperatures are high. This year he won in Barcelona and in Misano he was impressive. Obviously Ducati must try and will try, but this year it will be difficult”.
There’s a lot of talk about Toprak in MotoGP. What’s your opinion?
“In my opinion he can go to MotoGP, but if he wants to do it he must try with an immediately competitive bike without being forced to chase. I read about Honda, but I fear that if he went to Honda he would lose his head because we saw what happened with Marquez. Maybe there could be a possibility in Yamaha, but I don’t think it can be feasible, especially given how they broke up last year in Superbike. However, there is another aspect that I would like to underline.”
Which?
“Tires. In the end the difference between a Superbike and a MotoGP is not that great, but the behavior of the tires changes a lot because the Michelins are very different from the Pirellis. Toprak should therefore spend a lot of time learning about the tires and adapting them accordingly. In my opinion it would be easier for him if Pirelli entered MotoGP in place of Michelin. I hear around this possibility linked to changing tires and for Toprak it would certainly be less complicated.”
