39 Facts About Marco Melandri

Marco Melandri was born on 7 August 1982 and is an Italian retired motorcycle road racer who is a five-time premier class race winner.

Marco Melandri competed in the MotoGP class from 2003 to 2010 and then a brief return with Aprilia in 2015.

Marco Melandri finished runner-up in 2005 to Valentino Rossi with two wins.

Marco Melandri has 22 race wins in Grand Prix motorcycle racing including five in MotoGP.

Marco Melandri switched to the Superbike World Championship in 2011, earning 22 wins in his first six seasons finishing among the top five every time.

Marco Melandri retired from racing after the 2019 Superbike World Championship.

Marco Melandri was introduced to racing by a former rider Loris Reggiani at the age of six.

Marco Melandri came through the ranks from minibikes, motocross and then the Italian and European 125cc championship.

In 1997, Marco Melandri won the Italian 125cc championship, finishing 4th in European 125cc championship.

Marco Melandri rode Honda 125cc bike under Benetton Honda Team.

Marco Melandri went on to impress many as he earned his first podium in the fourth race of the season, where he finished second in his home Grand Prix at Mugello, Italy.

Marco Melandri won this race at the age of 15 years and 324 days which made him the youngest ever Grand Prix winner, at the time.

Marco Melandri remained on the same bike and team in 1999, where he bid to win the 125cc world championship.

Marco Melandri went on to win 5 Grand Prix but failed to win the championship, finishing second behind Emilio Alzamora with just a single point difference.

Marco Melandri was signed by Aprilia in 2000 to replace another Italian Valentino Rossi who left the team and 250cc class for 500cc class.

Marco Melandri was highly expected to take over Rossi's shoes and to win the 250cc world championship.

Marco Melandri struggled to adapt to bigger bike and higher competition.

Marco Melandri failed to win any Grand Prix in 2000, managing only 4 podiums, all came late in the season.

Marco Melandri managed to win his first 250cc Grand Prix at Sachsenring, Germany.

Marco Melandri finished the season in 3rd position behind champion Daijiro Kato and runner-up Tetsuya Harada.

Marco Melandri dominated the season by collecting 9 wins and 3 additional podiums.

Marco Melandri became the youngest 250cc world champion at the age of 20 years and 74 days until Dani Pedrosa broke his record in 2004.

Marco Melandri finished the season in fifteenth position without collecting any wins or podiums.

Marco Melandri joined Yamaha's satellite team, Tech3 in 2004 alongside Norick Abe in order to make way for the incoming Valentino Rossi.

Marco Melandri was successful with Movistar Honda in 2005, with a consistent run of podium finishes early in the season, ultimately taking his first two wins in the final two races of 2005 to clinch second place in the championship.

Marco Melandri rode for Gresini's Fortuna Honda team alongside Toni Elias in the 2006 season.

Marco Melandri again won at Istanbul, despite starting from fourteenth on the grid.

Marco Melandri managed further wins at Le Mans, France and Phillip Island, Australia.

Marco Melandri finished the season in fourth position, just one point behind Capirossi.

Marco Melandri ultimately finished fifth overall, second only to Pedrosa among the Honda riders.

Marco Melandri then ended the season in a lacklustre 17th position.

In 2009 Marco Melandri achieved his first podium since 2007 with his 2nd-place finish at the wet French motorcycle Grand Prix.

For 2010, Marco Melandri returned to Gresini Honda, with a factory-spec RC212V bike from the start.

Marco Melandri moved to the Superbike World Championship from 2011 with the Yamaha World Superbike Team, replacing Cal Crutchlow, who moved to the Tech3 team in MotoGP.

On 2 October 2011, Marco Melandri signed a contract to ride with the BMW World Superbike team for the 2012 season, after Yamaha elected not to continue with a factory team after the 2011 season.

Marco Melandri achieved BMW's best result, at the time, in the Superbike World Championship, with a second place in the season-opening race at Phillip Island, having started 13th on the grid.

From that point, Marco Melandri won races at Miller Motorsports Park, Motorland Aragon and a double at Brno, to move within 21 points of the championship lead held by Max Biaggi.

On 16 July 2020, it was announced that Marco Melandri would replace Leon Camier at the Barni Ducati Racing Team for the remainder of the season 2020.

However, after failing to score a point in the first eight races of the season, Marco Melandri left the team and was replaced by Michael Laverty and then by Stefan Bradl.