VOL. 51 ISSUE 40 OCTOBER 7, 2014 P55
are in a strong position," the
Frenchman said. "We should
both be very fast in Qatar so we
should hopefully be more Aprilia
showboating and take the riders
and manufacturers' titles."
Melandri shocked many by
not obeying the second order to
let Guintoli through, a move that
would have put his teammate to
within seven points of Kawasaki's
Sykes with only two points scor-
ing races left.
But Melandri was unrepentant
at not giving anything up in race
two.
"For me the second race was
no meaning," said Melandri. "If
Briefly...
make sure about the date. We want
to avoid a clash."
David Salom hurt his right wrist
in the same session Tom Sykes
crashed in, without even crashing.
A flick through his handlebars was
enough to hurt his much injured and
recently operated on right hand,
and he pulled in as the pain was so
harsh. He tried to ride in Superpole
and finished 17th of 20 riders, but he
felt the screw inside his hand had
been dislodged by the non-crash im-
pact. He did not ride on raceday but
is so far ahead in the Evo points he is
the de-facto champion already with a
lead of 30 points.
Genesio Bevilaqua's Althea Ducati
team is currently looking at running a
two-rider Ducati squad in 2015, with
one experienced Italian rider – Alex
De Angelis was in Magny-Cours and
linked with the move - and another
of a different nationality. There had
been a flirtation with other makes of
machinery until now but it is expect-
ed that the long time Ducati team will
stick with V-twin machinery.
The second ride in the Voltcom
Crescent Suzuki team for 2015 ap-
pears to be heading in the direction
of Suzuki MotoGP test rider Randy
de Puniet, with an announcement
expected soon one way or the other.
Alex Lowes will be the rider's team-
mate no matter who they sign.
Honda and Sylvain Guintoli are
set for a partnership in 2015, with
Michael van der Mark also already
signed to ride the Honda Superbike.
The timings of announcements for
Guintoli arriving is tricky as the situ-
ation of Aprilia in World Superbike is
continued on next page
