Le Mans MotoGP: Marco Melandri runs Showa suspension

Italian Marco Melandri has made a surprise switch to Showa suspension on the first day of the French GP at Le Mans today.

The former world 250GP champion ended opening practice in 10th place on the San Carlo Gresini Honda RC212V that didn’t feature Ohlins suspension for the first time in 2010.

Melandri clocked a best time of 1.35.643 but made a shock switch back to Showa to try and solve some of the handling issues that have plagued him since he returned to Honda. 

During winter testing, all of Honda’s six riders opted to run Ohlins suspension.

But Melandri and factory rider Dani Pedrosa have found the switch difficult to cope with and have struggled with a range of handling issues.

It was strange to see Melandri in such trouble as he had previous Ohlins experience with Ducati and Hayate. Pedrosa though had spent his entire career riding with the Japanese manufactured Showa forks and rear shock.

When asked about Melandri’s switch in Le Mans today, Spaniard Pedrosa denied he had made a request to HRC to revert back to Showa.

And he said such a change was not an option given Honda’s contract with Ohlins.

HRC first decided to switch its factory RC212Vs to Ohlins in Brno last August, but unlike team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, Pedrosa ended 2009 using Showa.

Was it possible for Pedrosa to switch? “Impossible,” he said.

Did he understand why Melandri had taken the decision to move back to Showa?

He added: “I also had a big problem in the winter but now it is coming better and we are reaching the point where we need to be. It has been a long time since I used Showa, so I wouldn’t change back. We’ve started racing so now it is not a good idea to change.”

Pedrosa finished today’s practice in fifth position with a best time of 1.34.989.