I'd be surprised if he signs before Dovi is confirmed to take his seat. Apparently, Dovi and his manager are threatening legal action to stay at Repsol so this could get interesting.
Yes mate,Ryder and Bumknuckle were discussing it at Indy.Hope it works out for him,be nice to see Marco at the pointy end again.
Joined Mar 2006
1K Posts | 71+
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How do people fancy Marco's chances? He is a race winner and a world champion at GP level, but when was the last time he was actually satisfied with a bike and confident to ride it for more than a couple of races? I worry that with the less adjustable superbike things could get worse for him and he might underachieve. On the other hand, having less to worry about might encourage him to just get on and ride the thing, plus being a big fish again might do his confidence a lot of good.
His head is too far gone. Unless he's at the top of the time sheet right out of the blocks, he's going to be eyeballing the other machines with envy. He seems to have a particular obsession with Italian riders so the Aprilia in particular is going to catch his fancy since Biaggi is onboard.
The guy has been a basket case for a long time, and while it did appear as though Ducati were remiss in their responsibility to Melandri by suggesting that he see a sport's psychologist, the advice looks quite reasonable in light of recent events.
The man has talent, but his mind has gone of the rails since 2008.
I'd say eariler, he wasn't happy throughout 07, and was even reverting back to old equipment at the start of the 06 season before Honda put their foot down a few races in.
You're right. I didn't say 2007 b/c I thought it would start a side conversation that I didn't really want to explore, but I agree that 2007 is when it began. It was very unpleasant for Melandri to be snubbed so conspicuously by HRC, and Nick's championship certainly didn't do anything to improve his mental stability. Marco had more wins than anyone on a Honda, and he believed he deserved more than he was getting by early 2006. By 2007 he was already well on his way to being completely psyched out.
