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Ducati Signs Marco Melandri for 2017 WSB Series

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After his struggles at Aprilia in MotoGP resulted in his separation from the team last year, Marco Melandri has found himself a new gig. He will race as Chaz Davies teammate next year on the Aruba.it Racing Ducati team.

Melandri is a former 250cc GP World champ who has excellent, natural speed, but has been known to struggle with his self confidence on the bike.  Melandri last rode a Ducati in the 2008 MotoGP championship. Here is what Melandri had to say about the deal:

“I kept following World SBK closely, and I’m confident the Panigale R can perfectly suit my riding style. We’ll just have to take one step at a time, but the potential is surely high.”

“I know it won’t be easy to get back up to speed, but I have all the time to step on the bike, do laps and make sure I’m ready for the first test: to this end, I will skip the holidays to train on a street version of the Panigale R.”

The team also confirmed a new two-year deal with Davies, who has race-winning speed and has been one of the few riders to challenge the Kawasaki dominance in WSB this year.


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11 Comments

  1. PatrickD says:

    I don’t think Marco reacts well to having a faster teammate. Which Chaz surely is.

  2. Norm G. says:

    re: “I’m confident the Panigale R can perfectly suit my riding style.”

    famous last words.

    though I am glad to see him back in the series, I certainly didn’t think it would come it come at the expense of Googs.

  3. Tim C says:

    Jeez you wife in the box types…Maybe try match.com or something, your wrist must be getting tired

  4. Randy D. says:

    His wife in the pits?………….did they get married? I know they have a child.

    • Craig says:

      Not sure they are married… I’m just old school and you are married if you are together and acting like it and having children. So, I guess she is still on the market… 🙂

      • Randy D. says:

        I’m old school too but nowadays you can’t assume anything, sadly. Far as I know they are NOT married just like Biaggi who also has a child with his girlfriend.

  5. Jeremy in TX says:

    It doesn’t seem like a step up from Giugliano in my opinion. I guess we’ll see.

  6. mickey says:

    Mediocrity interspersed with flashes of brilliance. Bet he drives the Aruba team crazy.

  7. Craig says:

    ummm. another article mentioned that he is riding for free and bringing his own sponsorship to cover himself. This made it something that Ducati could not pass up as their $$ are pouring in MotoGP with the signing of Jorge and the investment into their bikes.

    I really don’t see this as a step up from David at this point and sometimes the drama can be a huge deterrent… but never the less, his wife in the box is always a nice sight! 🙂

    • mugwump says:

      Yup I opine, this is all about the sponsorship money.

    • Norm G. says:

      it’s VR46 part 2. I contend if they REALLY wanted to save money, they would “mothball” the whole Aruba team in advance of his arrival the same way they did with the Xerox team. this is Guigliano, how much money could Ducati (now operating with parent company VAG/Audi) save anyway on a rider who’s NOT high profile…?

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