VOL. 51 ISSUE 45 NOVEMBER 11, 2014 P23
PEDROSA
LOOKING
FORWARD TO
CHANGE
D
ani Pedrosa blamed his dis-
appointing season on the
wrong set-up strategy and the
new Open-class rules that fa-
vored lesser riders and machines
with more fuel and on softer tires.
The latter condition meant that
qualifying up front was harder
than it should be, making the
early laps problematic, and ren-
dering his former habit of starting
fast and running away almost im-
possible to access.
The set-up strategy conspired
to exacerbate the situation.
"I have not been able to push
the same at the beginning of rac-
es like I can at the end. It has to
be because of the settings," Pe-
drosa said.
"It wasn't the best strategy," he
admitted. Apart from letting the
leaders escape, it put him among
other riders and, in Australia, in
line to be clobbered from behind
by an impetuous [Andrea] Ian-
none. He retired with a buckled
wheel, and his no-score there fi-
nally ruined his hopes of maintain-
ing the second place overall he
had held for much of the season.
He left unspoken his hopes
that a change of crew chief, after
11 years with the voluntarily de-
parting Mike Leitner, would give
him access to the sort of fresh
approach that has served Rossi
so well.
Michael Scott
MELANDRI:
FINALLY OFFICIAL!
A
prilia finally made the official announcement
that World Superbike rider Marco Melandri
will make the move to MotoGP alongside Alvaro
Bautista on the Gresini Racing team. Melandri
returns to MotoGP after a four-year absence to
help Aprilia develop a new prototype.
"I was offered the chance to develop a com-
pletely new project and it is something that I have
not yet done in my career since I have always
had 'inherited' bikes," Melandri said. "Precisely
for this reason I am very intrigued by this chal-
lenge. Our goal is quite ambitious: to grow a bike
and at the same time to develop a new prototype
that will race in 2016. It will be a demanding season
and a lot of work but we are ready to take on these
challenges."
Crew Chief Mike
Leitner (left) and
Dani Pedrosa
(right) parting
ways might be the
fresh start that
served Valentino
Rossi so well.
Marco Me-
landri returns
to MotoGP
with Aprilia
and Gresini
Racing.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
GOLD
&
GOOSE
