Great victory for Marco Melandri at Phillip Island

Marco Melandri, Chris Vermeulen and Valentino Rossi at Phillip Islands podium. © Fortuna Honda. Marco Melandri claimed his third victory of the season in a difficult race at Phillip Island in which the flag-to-flag rule had to be introduced. With 193 points, the Fortuna Honda rider is now third in the World Championship, 32 points behind leader Nicky Hayden.

After the start was delayed by rain and the subsequent application of the flag-to-flag rule, it was Marco Melandri who made a good start, making up places as he set off on what was to be a superb ride. The Italian lapped amongst the top four over the first few laps and it was on lap nine that he came into the box to change his bike because of the rain. He quickly returned to the race and it was on lap 16 that he moved to the front of the field, a lead he was never to surrender. It is the third time that he has made it on to the podium in Australia podium, (he won in 1999 - 125cc, 2002 - 250cc) and means he has now climbed to third in the championship.

Marco Melandri: “It was an incredible race and it came just at the right time for me. To win at Phillip Island, (the track where I won the 250 title), in whatever conditions, is an incredible feeling. I was really motivated because I went well in the warm-up this morning thanks to a good set up and made some small changes for the race. The weather conditions then made things even more tense. I made a good start and got into third position on the first lap. It then started to rain and so I had to ride with care. When it started falling harder I came into the pit-land to change the bike. It was a strange situation, like when you play on the playstation, because there were a lot of people in the pit-lane and it was hard to get to your own box. Back on the track I had to ride without forcing because it was hard to keep the feeling in slippery conditions. When I started to feel comfortable and increased the pace I was able to get past Vermeulen and Gibernau. The bike and the Michelin tyres worked very well and it helped that I know the circuit so well. During the winter tests I did lots of laps here in different conditions and knowing how things would work really helped. I am happy and want to thank the team and Honda and Michelin because everything worked perfectly."
(Fortuna Honda)

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