Mugello MotoGP: Marco Melandri plays down home hopes

Marco Melandri has played down his hopes of springing another major surprise in this weekend’s Italian MotoGP clash in Mugello.

Melandri has been the sensation of the 2009 season so far and heads into Mugello on the back of a stunning second place in the French GP in Le Mans earlier this month. 

That result followed successive top six finishes in Japan and Spain on the Hayate machine, which is a rebranded factory Kawasaki ZX-RR, The former world 250 champion has already scored more points in the opening four races than he managed in the first 12 during a torrid campaign with Ducati in 2008.

But he’s played down his hopes of another shock in Sunday’s 23-lap race, which sees compatriot Valentino Rossi going for an incredible eighth successive win on home soil.

Melandri, who feared his MotoGP career might be over when Kawasaki quit in early January, said: “It’s awesome for me just to be here but I know already that it is going to be a tough weekend. I’ve been coming better and better race-by-race and it will be very hard to repeat that.

“Le Mans for me is still awesome but I knew when I saw the sky there that it was going to be tricky and that I needed to take advantage of that. I had a little bit of luck and if I am honest if I can fight for eighth on ninth here then I’ll be happy with that.

“That would be a good result for me in the dry because I still think we have to catch around one second to be at the pace of the guys at the front. Every night when I sleep I catch them, but we have to see.”