Yamaha World Superbike Team riders Marco Melandri and Eugene Laverty head to Donington this weekend for round two of the 2011 World Superbike Championship.
After a month's break from the opening round in Phillip Island both riders are keen to get back onboard their YZF-R1 race bikes and pick up where they left off. Both Melandri and Laverty have still relatively little time in the seat of the R1 but nevertheless impressed at the opening round in Australia.
The Italian Superbike Rookie Melandri delivered his maiden podium for the championship in race two, giving the reigning world champion Max Biaggi no rest all the way to the line. Laverty, also a Superbike Rookie, was looking as promising as his teammate, leading race one for a period; race two saw multiple ghost neutrals hiding his true potential. Melandri visited his doctor on Monday this week, and was given the all clear for a healthy shoulder.
As they set up in the UK for the second round of the championship, they do so with Melandri sitting in third in the overall standings with 27 points, his teammate Laverty sits in ninth with 14 points, 13 behind Melandri.
"I'm feeling good and very happy to be getting back on my bike this weekend, one month with no riding seems very long," Melandri said. "Donington has always been a good track for me, I had good races there in MotoGP and I think our bike will work well. My only concern is the weather, I'm hoping for some sunshine as I still haven't had much experience on the Pirelli wet tyres.
Silvano Galbusera, Crew Chief for Marco Melandri said, "It's been two years since our last race here with Ben Spies but we will start with the same setting from last Phillip Island's race and see which direction Marco wants to go in. We will start with the second solution we found in Australia from race two with more traction in the rear and we develop from there. Of course we will also use a different gearbox as we did with Ben. The Donington track has changed a little since our last visit and Marco is a lot lighter than Ben so we have to adjust the settings to take this into account."
"I'm pretty excited for Donington," Eugene Laverty enthused. "After Phillip Island it's looking very promising, we showed a lot of potential there. We'll wait and see what the results are come Sunday but I'm quietly confident, I think we are going to be very strong. I like Donington a lot, especially the fast flowing nature of the track and I've always enjoyed riding it.
Yamaha World Superbike Team Manager, Andrea Dosoli, said "After the good start to the season in Phillip Island we're glad to be back in Europe, on this historical race track. Donington Park is an important race for us where we want to confirm how competitive our package is. Our engineers have been working hard in the last weeks in order to offer both riders the best starting set up for the British track. Eugene and Marco haven't stopped training so I'm confident that they will be able to perform well on what could be considered the 'home track' for both: Eugene, coming from these Islands but Marco also used to live close to the Donington circuit. We're hoping for good weather and that all fans will enjoy the races."
Main Photo: Marco Melandri
Credit: Garry Morrow
