Superbike: Melandri redeems himself in Race 2 at Aragon

Sunday didn't start well for Aprilia in the second round of the World SBK Championship, on the Spanish track of Aragon.
In the first race, held back by a sudden drop in tire performance, Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli were unable to compete with the leaders.

After a good start, the Aprilia riders gradually lost positions and while Guintoli managed to finish in 6th place, Melandri slipped to 11th position.
However, the man from Ravenna was able to react in Race 2, with more normal temperature conditions, finding the best pace again: starting from seventh position he began a great comeback, leaving Guintoli, Davies, Giugliano and Rea behind, until he grabbed hold, four laps from the fine, Sykes and Baz.
With a spectacular overtaking Melandri moved into second place with just over 2 laps to go, then trying to stay glued to Sykes' wheel: at the end of the last straight he "pulled" a brake but went a little too far, and was also overtaken by Baz.

Guintoli, on the other hand, was the author of two races without any sharp points, always fighting with the tyres: the haul of points, 21 at the end of the day, although it does not leave him at the top of the standings, however confirms him as an extremely concrete driver even on bad days: who If he wants to aim for the title, he will also have to deal with it.

“It's a shame to have practically thrown away Race1, from the first laps I struggled to ride and wasn't able to keep my pace. In the second we changed something with the team, the bike worked decidedly better, I just lost a bit of time in the early stages of the race” - he said Marco Melandri, who made up for the disappointment of Race 1 with a great performance in Race 2 - “I had some difficulty braking and entering corners, but lap after lap I gained confidence until I reached the pacesetters. I overtook Baz and at that point, with victory within reach, my DNA pushed me to try even though I was perhaps too far from Sykes. Unfortunately I went too far, finishing third, but I wanted to show that I could win and I will take this belief with me to Assen to try for the first seal of the season."

“Race 2 went much better, regardless of the result I was able to ride with conviction while in Race 1 it was simply a matter of bringing home as many points as possible” - he declared Sylvain Guintoli– “In Race2 when Marco overtook me I tried to follow him to catch up with the leaders, but I lost the front twice and therefore decided to maintain my pace. The improvements between the two heats were evident, at a certain point my times were in line with the best but by then I was too far away to reach them. We need to understand how the low temperatures of the first race influenced our performance in such a decisive way. With the new race time, it will be important to be able to make the RSV4 perform at its best even with low temperatures."