Hector Barbera

Héctor Barberá Vall (born November 2, 1986 in Dos Aguas, Valencia Province) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer competing in the MotoGP class aboard an Aspar Racing Team Ducati. Hector began his World Championship career at the age of 15 in the 2002 125cc world championship, under the guidance of Jorge Martínez "Aspar", who teamed Barberá and fellow youngster Angel Rodríguez up with the experienced Pablo Nieto. In his first season Barberá established himself as the most promising rider of the three and in 2003 he broke through, with his first victory at Donington Park making him one of the youngest riders ever to win a Grand Prix. A strong finish to the season saw him take third place in the championship and he signed up for a title challenge with Seedorf Racing in 2003. Several inopportune crashes and mechanical failures derailed his hopes but victory in the final race secured the runner-up spot and a factory ride with Fortuna Honda in the 250cc class for 2005. After two years with the team he moved to Team Toth in 2007. Barberá survived a huge crash during the Italian round of the championship on June 1, 2008. Running second behind Marco Simoncelli on the penultimate lap who tried to defend his lead by changing his line on the straight, Barberá slipstreamed onto Simoncelli's back wheel and clipped it with his front brake lever. His bike somersaulted through the air, with Barberá escaping somewhat uninjured. However, a further crash in practice at Motegi left him with two spinal fractures, ending his season. In the 2009 250cc world championship, Barberá won three races along with five other podium results to finish second to Honda's Hiroshi Aoyama. Barberá won the 2009 Valencia Grand Prix, the final two-stroke, 250cc race in Grand Prix history, as the class was to be discontinued in favor of the four-stroke Moto2 class in 2010. On 20 August 2009 it was announced Barberá would move to MotoGP in 2010, riding for the Aspar Racing Team aboard Ducati customer bikes. Barberá finished the 2010 MotoGP season in twelfth place.

Marco SIMONCELLI and Hector BARBERA CRASH ESTORIL GP 2011

Jorge ‘Aspar’ Martinez has confirmed Hector Barbera will spearhead his first assault on the MotoGP world championship in 2010. Following Alvaro Bautista’s move to Suzuki’s factory MotoGP squad, Martinez moved quickly to tie up a deal for Barbera while he was in negotiation with the Tech 3 Yamaha squad. Barbera, who currently sits fourth in the 250GP world championship and has won eight GP races in his career, said: “I am very happy to be going to MotoGP, as to do so is the dream of every rider in the world. As a Valencian rider I am especially drawn to the idea of working in the Aspar Team project. "Right now the Ducati is a very competitive bike; the factory won the world championship two years ago and the team and myself have a strong desire to do well. The goal for the first season in the premier class will be to adapt to the new bike and team as soon as possible -in order to get the best results possible. "Now I am going to focus on finishing this season, in which I have six races to go, and when the year is over we will begin work on the new project." Martinez, who was desperate to clinch a deal with current 250GP rider and title contender Bautista, said: “It is undoubtedly great news for us to have signed Hector, especially because of our long history together. "In our previous association we won the Spanish championship and various 125GPs, and I am convinced that we can have further success with this project. I am sure that next year we can get some great results and that this will be a long-term arrangement. "I am hopeful that Hector can become a factory rider, as this will mean that he would have earned some great results with us. For the team it is a dream come true to be able to line up in all three classes, in particular because we do so with a Valencian rider."

Hector Barbera endured a challenging qualifying session at Sepang for the Malaysian MotoGP, which was made worse by a late crash in turn 7. Barbera was unhurt but faces an uphill battle in tomorrow’s race as the crash prevented him from improving his times and forced him into 15th place on the grid. "Once again we have to start from a long way back. We struggled to improved today but the pace in general is very fast. I am only 1.3 seconds off pole yet I find myself in fifteenth place. It is not a big gap around so a long circuit but we have to improve. We took an important step this morning and I felt good but this afternoon didn’t go so well. As in Japan the main problem is rear stability under acceleration. It is a shame because we did improve but just not enough and we have have to find a set-up that makes the bike easier to handle. I tried to make up time under braking on my last lap but left it too late and the front folded.” Team Toth Aprilia rider Hector Barbera has taken provisional pole in a rain-hit qualifying session at Brno. The session started on a slightly damp track, with the majority of the riders choosing to put in their fastest laps before the rain properly started. Debon was fastest early on in the session, but Pasini and Simoncelli beat heis time respectively. Once Simoncelli posted his fastest lap, nobody was able to knock him off of the top spot for the majority of the session. Towards the end of the session Mika Kallio went to the top of the timesheets after having a relatively quiet session, but Hector Barbera put in the fastest lap of the session after he also had a relatively quiet session. On his in lap after his fastest lap Hector Barbera crashed at the same corner as James Toseland.

Loris Capirossi

Loris Capirossi (born April 4, 1973 in Castel San Pietro Terme, Bologna) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle road racer, who currently rides a Ducati for the Pramac Racing MotoGP team. He is a former 250cc World Champion for Aprilia; Capirossi made his 300th start at the 2010 season-opening Qatar Grand Prix.

Loris Capirossi Show Ups With His Motorcycle

Capirossi and Ducati started the 2006 season with a striking victory and he had a second place in both the French and Italian grand prix, tying for first in Moto GP points with American Nicky Hayden. However, he was caught up in a multiple bike collision at the start at Barcelona, missing the restart and losing championship ground to Hayden. Though he was knocked out in this horrendous looking accident, he did not suffer very serious injuries beyond significant bruising. He returned for the next round, but a run of less competitive results saw him slip to 5th in the standings before the race at Brno. In this race he started 2nd, took the lead at the start, and pulled away from the field for an easy victory. He attributed this to a late setup change the team believe can be applied to the bike at all circuits. He moved up in the championship standings to finish 3rd overall, after taking second at the final race behind stand-in team-mate Troy Bayliss.

Loris Capirossi On The Podium

Loris Capirossi With His Partner

Loris Capirossi and Motorcycle

2008 was a less competitive season than year due to many weak results during the season. The only podium Capirossi had was in the Czech Republic at Brno. In Spain, Capirossi was injured and missed two races. He finished the season in tenth place, his lowest position since 1996. In 2009, his season started with a spectacular crash in Qatar, when he was in second place. In Italy, Capirossi fought with Stoner for first place but fell to fifth place due to his slower Suzuki on the main straight. He finished the season in 9th place without a podium for the first time since 1992. On 11 April 2010, Capirossi became the first rider in the history of the sport to start 300 races, when he finished ninth in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. The rest of his campaign has been plagued by retirements and injury with Capirossi only finishing seven races in the season so far, and holds 17th place in the championship standings. For 2011 Capirossi announced that he would ride for Ducati Pramac Team.

Alvaro Bautista

Álvaro Bautista (born 21 November 1984 in Talavera de la Reina, Castile-La Mancha) is a Spanish Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He currently competes in the MotoGP class of the Grand Prix Motorcycle World Championship for the Suzuki team.

He made his international debut in the 2002 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, also finishing as runner-up in that year's Spanish 125cc road racing national championship. In 2003, he won the 125cc Spanish national championship. Bautista scored his first podium position and fastest lap at Donington Park in his second full season in 2004. In 2006 he won the 125cc World Championship with eight wins, on the MVA Aspar Aprilia.

Alvaro Bautista Simple Smile

Alvaro Bautista Get A Trophy

Bautista moved up to MotoGP for the 2010 season, with the factory Suzuki team. After missing the French Grand Prix due to injury, Bautista made a steady return to the class and finished fifth at the Catalan Grand Prix.

Alvaro Bautista Poster

Alvaro Bautista Accident

During practice for the 2011 MotoGP season opener in Qatar, Bautista suffered a broken left femur as a result of a crash at turn 15.

Colin Edwards

Edwards has recently signed an extension to his contract to continue with the team for the 2010 season.

Colin Edwards Hairpin Turn

Colin Edwards Got A Trophy

In his first professional season (1992), Edwards entered the AMA 250cc National Series. He won five of the nine races and the national title over second-place earner Kenny Roberts, Jr.. In 1993 and 1994 Edwards rode for Vance and Hines on a Yamaha in the AMA Superbike Championship, earning 6th and 5th place overall in those years.

Colin Edwards Race Constume

On 19 September 2010, Edwards signed a one-year contract extension to ride for Tech 3 Yamaha in the 2011 season, partnering Cal Crutchlow.

Edwards has twice represented the United States in the Michelin Race of Champions Nation's Cup, first in 2000 and again in 2002 when the US team won the event. The competition involves a national team that includes an automobile racer, a rally/off-road driver and a motorcycle racer. The 2002 US team included former off-road racer and NASCAR rookie Jimmie Johnson as the rally driver, and four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon in the automobile category.

Jorge Lorenzo

Jorge Lorenzo Guerrero (born May 4, 1987 in Palma, Balearic Islands, Spain), is a Spanish professional motorcycle road racer. He is the 2006 and 2007 250cc World Champion, and the 2010 MotoGP World Champion. He is currently a rider in the MotoGP Class, on the Yamaha Factory Team. Lorenzo made his championship debut on his fifteenth birthday, on the second qualifying day for the 2002 125cc Spanish Grand Prix, after having to miss Friday practice as he was not old enough to race. Lorenzo dominated the 2007 250cc World Championship. His nine pole positions led to nine victories in 2007, and all his 2006 poles bar Motegi led to victories in 2006. Jorge's victory at Misano in 2007 was his 16th in the 250cc class, making him the most successful Spanish rider of all time in the 250cc GP class – with one more victory than Dani Pedrosa and Sito Pons. After being linked with a Yamaha MotoGP ride for 2008, on 25 July 2007 he was confirmed as Valentino Rossi's partner on a two year deal for the 2008 MotoGP season.




Lorenzo made a great start to his MotoGP career, after qualifying on pole for the Qatar night race on March 8 and placing 2nd. He followed this up with pole at the second round in Jerez, Spain and 3rd Position, and pole in round 3 at Estoril, Portugal. He converted this pole into a victory, his maiden win in the Premier Class. In doing so, he became the youngest rider in MotoGP to finish on the podium in his first three races, taking the record from compatriot (and bitter rival) Dani Pedrosa by a single day.By this stage of the Championship, Lorenzo was in joint first place with Pedrosa, but on May 1, 2008 Lorenzo was thrown from his bike during practice for the MotoGP Grand Prix of China. Lorenzo suffered a chipped bone and snapped ligament in his left ankle, and a fractured bone in his right. He was still able to finish the race in 4th place. Two weeks later at Le Mans, Lorenzo suffered two accidents in the practice sessions but managed to post a 2nd place result. In the following race in Italy he crashed during the race after qualifying seventh on the grid, The next week at Catalunya he experienced his fifth crash in four meetings, the practice session accident forcing him to miss the race.At both Donington Park and Assen, he was observed to be riding more conservatively after a series of injuries, but moved up the order in the later part of the race to finish 6th in each case. He has commented that he is stronger in the latter parts of races, preferring the bike when it is low on fuel. In the next meeting at Sachsenring, however, Lorenzo crashed out of the race during very wet conditions. Lorenzo suffered yet more injuries to his feet at the USGP at Laguna Seca on July 20, when he experienced his seventh crash in only three months. During the first lap a spectacular highside left Lorenzo with a sore right foot (or ankle) and three broken bones in his left foot, specifically the third, fourth and fifth metatarsals. At Misano, Lorenzo clinched 2nd place. Indianapolis saw him on the podium again this time in third position. He eventually finished the season in 4th position.In 2009, Lorenzo stayed with Yamaha. His season started strongly, with two wins out of four races: in Japan and France. Two crashes later in the season, during the rain hit British Grand Prix and at Brno hampered his title bid, as he was 50 points behind championship leader Valentino Rossi prompting Lorenzo to claim his chances of winning the title have gone. He won at Indianapolis, while both Rossi and Pedrosa crashed, reducing Lorenzo's gap to Rossi to 25 points. His first corner crash with Nicky Hayden in Australia was a blow to his title chances and Rossi clinched the title with a third place finish in Malaysia.




On 25 August 2009, Lorenzo ended speculation surrounding a possible move to Honda or Ducati by signing a contract to race with Yamaha in the 2010 MotoGP Championship. Ducati reputedly offered him a 15 million dollar contract to take Nicky Hayden's position. Lorenzo broke two bones in his hand in a pocket bike crash pre-season, therefore missing most of the pre-season testing. He fought through the field to finish second to Rossi in the season opener in Qatar, whilst still not fully fit. After Rossi broke his leg in a crash at Mugello, Lorenzo became the title favourite, with a 47-point lead after four wins in the first six rounds. Victory at Assen made him only the seventh rider ever to win in 3 classes at this prestigious circuit. During a break between the Italian and British rounds of the championship, Lorenzo rode a Yamaha in a parade lap around the world famous Snaefell Mountain Course at the Isle of Man TT. He rode alongside former World Champion Ángel Nieto, later describing the experience as 'amazing'. Despite nearest rival Dani Pedrosa making up ground in the latter stage of the season, Lorenzo was still in control with five races remaining. Pedrosa, the only man who could still overtake Lorenzo in the standings, then suffered a broken collarbone during practice, causing him to miss the next two races and virtually guaranteeing Lorenzo would become champion. On 10 October, Lorenzo clinched the title with a third place finish at the Malaysian Grand Prix behind Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso. Lorenzo has become known for his celebration antics, which have become more frequent over the 2010 season. These have included Lorenzo imitating a spaceman, and Nintendo's mario brothers making an appearance at the trackside. In January 2010, Lorenzo got involved with the Oxfam international confederation's efforts in assisting support for the victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The character Jorge in the video game Halo: Reach is named for him, after Lorenzo wore a helmet at the 2009 Valencian Grand Prix that replicated a style of helmet from Halo 3. Jorge's tenure in the Fiat Yamaha team has been underscored by an intense rivalry between himself and his team mate Valentino Rossi. This rivalry has resulted in the Fiat Yamaha team being divided.

Andrea Dovizioso

Andrea Dovizioso (born March 23, 1986 in Forlimpopoli, Italy) is a professional motorcycle road racer. He won the 125cc World Championship in 2004.In 2001 Dovizioso won the 125cc European Championship and also competed in his first World Championship race at Mugello, in which he retired. In 2002 he competed in the 125cc World Championship with Team Scot Honda, finishing 16th in the final standings. His best results were two 9th places in Le Mans and Donington. He continued with the team in 2003, finishing 5th in the final standings and achieving four podium finishes. The 2004 season saw him pick up five victories and six other podium finishes on his way to winning the championship with 293 points.In 2005 Dovizioso moved to the 250cc class, continuing with Team Scot Honda. The season included five podium finishes and 3rd place in the overall standings. He also won the Rookie of the Year award. In 2006 he stayed with the team, who were now renamed as Humangest Racing. He won two races in Barcelona and Estoril and finished on the podium 11 times. He fought for the championship until the final race of the season, but had to settle for 2nd place behind Jorge Lorenzo. The 2007 season has seen him win two races in Istanbul and Donington and challenge once again for the championship, but he finished in 2nd place once again. On 15 September 2007, Dovizioso announced that he would be making the move up to the MotoGP class with his existing team in 2008. On his premier class debut, Dovizioso achieved a highly credible fourth place, at the season opener in Qatar, passing Valentino Rossi on the last lap. Since then, he has been one of the best and most consistent Honda riders, placing 4th and 5th several times, and achieving a 3rd place podium finish at the Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang. For the 2009 season, "Dovi" became an official Repsol Honda rider replacing Nicky Hayden. In July 2009, Dovizioso won his first race in MotoGP at the British MotoGP at Donington Park. On 2 October 2010, Dovizioso claimed his first pole position in MotoGP at the Japanese Grand Prix at Twin Ring Motegi.

Video From Andrea Dovizioso

Andrea Dovizioso cool pose

Andrea Dovizioso pose in Moto GP racing

Andrea Dovizioso with his trophy

Andrea Dovizioso smile

Andrea Dovizioso handsome pose

Andrea Dovizioso with his costume to racing

Andrea Dovizioso cute smile

Casey Stoner

He competed in his first race was when he was four years old, in an under-nine years old race at the Mike Hatcher's dirt racing track on the Gold Coast of Australia. Between his very first race win at the age of nine and the age of fourteen, Stoner won 41 dirt and long track titles and 70 state titles. One feat he achieved that illustrates his passion and "need" for racing was at age twelve. Over one weekend he raced in 5 different categories in all 7 rounds of each capacity. A weekend consisting of 35 different races... Not only did he compete in all these categories and different engine capacities, the young Casey Stoner went on to win 32 out of the 35 races. There were five Australian titles to be won that weekend, Stoner won all 5. The legal age to enter into road races in Australia is 16. At the age of 14 years, Stoner and his parents agreed he was ready to move up onto road racing so they packed up and moved to England – where the legal age for road racing is 14. From 2000 to 2002, he contested the national 125cc GP championships in Britain and Spain, winning the English 125cc Aprilia Championship in 2000, before moving fulltime to the 250cc GP World Championships in 2002. His season on an Aprilia under the guidance of Lucio Cecchinello was turbulent, with no podium places from 15 race starts.

Casey Stoner Drift

In 2005 he rejoined the 250cc world championship class, racing once again for Lucio Cecchinello' team on an Aprilia. Onboard a factory Aprilia, Stoner emerged toward the season's end as a serious threat to championship leader Dani Pedrosa; a threat that only dissipated with a crash at Stoner's home Grand Prix of Phillip Island, allowing Pedrosa to establish an insurmountable points lead. Stoner went on to claim a solid second place in the overall championship standings, with an impressive five race victories for the season.Stoner was in advanced negotiations with Yamaha, but after they dropped him he settled on an alliance once more with team manager Lucio Cecchinello on a Honda RC211V, on a one-bike team new to the series for the 2006 Season, Team LCR. He took pole in just his second race MotoGP, but crashed several times during the season. He finished in 8th position with his best result being a 2nd place at the Turkish GP, where he was leading until overtaken on the final corner by Marco Melandri.Stoner secured a ride with the factory Ducati team for the 2007 season, joining Loris Capirossi on the new 800cc Ducati Desmosedici GP7. 6 poles and 10 race wins (including three of the first four), took him to his first GP title, by a margin of 125 points (equivalent to five victories) over Dani Pedrosa, which he built during the second half of the season. His worst finish was a 6th place at Motegi, which was all he needed to clinch the title that dayStoner opened the 2008 season with a victory at Qatar, before a run of two races without a podium. He returned to the podium with a second place at Mugello, before starting a run of seven successive pole positions. He turned three of them into successive victories – a lights-to-flag win at Donington, leading every lap at Assen six days later, and recovering from a huge Friday crash at Sachsenring to win in the wet after Dani Pedrosa crashed, moving to within 20 points of the championship lead. However, successive crashes while fighting for the lead at Laguna Seca (where he remounted to finish second to Valentino Rossi), Brno and Misano ensured that he could not defend the title successfully. Stoner finished the 2008 season as runner-up to Rossi with 280 points, the highest amount of points ever gained without taking the title. Stoner remained with Ducati for the 2009 season with new team mate Nicky Hayden, with a further option for a 4th season in 2010. A strong start to the season left Stoner in a three way battle with the Fiat Yamaha duo of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, before he was struck by a mystery illness which caused him to feel tired long before the end of races, leaving him 16 points behind Rossi and 7 behind Lorenzo after the US Grand Prix at Laguna Seca on July 5. Stoner was subsequently diagnosed with anemia and an inflammation of the stomach lining. Stoner later disputed the diagnosis however and, after continuing to struggle with the condition, he announced on August 10, 2009 that he would miss rounds 11, 12 and 13 in Brno, Indianapolis and Misano respectively in an attempt to recover from the illness. Mika Kallio was chosen as Stoner's replacement for the three races. Stoner returned to racing late in the 2009 season, placing second in the Portuguese Grand Prix and an emphatic first in the Australian Grand Prix, which he led throughout. At interview following the Australian Grand Prix, Stoner said that he experienced none of the premature tiredness that had dogged him earlier in the 2009 season. He followed this up with another first place in the wet at the Malaysian Grand Prix. At the last round of 2009 at Valencia, Stoner dominated all practise and qualifying sessions to take pole, only to crash on cold tyres on the warm-up lap and miss the race.



At the test held immediately following the Valencia round, Stoner was once again fastest while testing the new 2010 version of the Desmosedici. However, Rossi was fastest in five of the six pre-season tests. Stoner qualified on pole for the season opener in Qatar, and was leading the race when he crashed out, later acknowledging that this was his own mistake. He also crashed out of round 3 at Le Mans, this time attributing the crash to the front of the bike unloading when not running at maximum pace. His first podium of the year came at Assen, despite struggling with arm pump late in the race. For 2011 Stoner will join Honda Racing Corporation after four years at Ducati Corse, where he will be replaced by Valentino Rossi. Stoner has showed signs of feeling underappreciated by the general public. He was angered by consistent suggestions that the bike and tyres had a bigger role in his success than he did, and unhappy at being booed at Donington in both 2007 and 2008. In August 2008 he was criticised for his team's association with tobacco company Philip Morris.

Stoner met Adriana Tuchyna from Adelaide when she approached him at Phillip Island in 2003 and asked him to sign her stomach. A relationship began in 2005 when she turned 16, and they were married in Adelaide on 6 January 2007. Following his experience of tiredness and sickness during 2009, Stoner was ultimately diagnosed as lactose intolerant.

Marco Melandri

Marco Melandri (born August 7, 1982 in Ravenna, Italy) is a MotoGP road racer currently racing for Honda Gresini. Melandri is also a former 250cc World Champion in 2002. Melandri currently lives 2 miles away from the famous race track, Donington Park, Leicestershire, England. He was introduced to racing by a former rider Loris Reggiani at the age of six. He came through the ranks from minibikes, motocross and then the Italian and European 125cc championship. In 1997, Melandri won the Italian 125cc championship, also finishing 4th in European 125cc championship. In addition to his European success, he made his debut in 125cc world championship at Brno, Czech Republic as a wild card rider. After impressing in Italian and European championship in 1997, Melandri finally got his chance to compete in 1998 125cc world championship as a regular. He rode Honda 125cc bike under Benetton Honda Team. He went on to impress many as he earned his first podium in the fourth race of the season, where he finished second in his home Grand Prix at Mugello, Italy.

His brilliant debut season continued when he won his first grand prix at Assen TT, Netherlands. He won this race at the age of 15 years and 324 days which made him the youngest ever Grand Prix winner, at the time. Since then, Scott Redding has become the youngest winner, having won the 2008 British motorcycle Grand Prix. Overall, he won two Grand Prix in his debut season and therefore he finished the season at 3rd position in overall standings behind champion Kazuto Sakata and runner-up Tomomi Manako. He remained on the same bike and team in 1999, where he bid to win the 125cc world championship. He went on to win 5 Grand Prix but failed to win the championship, finishing second behind Emilio Alzamora with just a single point difference. Failure in securing his first world championship did not stop his rise to 250cc world championship in 2000. Melandri was signed by Aprilia in 2000 to replace another Italian Valentino Rossi who left the team and 250cc class for 500cc class. He was highly expected to take over Rossi's shoes and to win the 250cc world championship. However, his debut season did not start as well as the expectation. He struggled to adapt to bigger bike and higher competition. He failed to win any Grand Prix in 2000, managing only 4 podiums, all came late in the season. Despite these problems, he still finishes the season at 5th position overall.

In 2001, his performances were improving. He managed to win his first 250cc Grand Prix at Sachsenring, Germany. However, it was his only win in 2001. Despite managing to appear on the podium on 9 occasions, he never really challenged for the championship. He finished the season in 3rd position behind champion Daijiro Kato and runner-up Tetsuya Harada. 2002 proved to be Melandri's chance to shine. With 2001 champion and runner-up, Kato and Harada moved to MotoGP class, he became the strongest contender for the championship. He dominated the season by collecting 9 wins and 3 additional podiums. After challenging for world championship for years, he finally won the 250cc world title. He became the youngest 250cc world champion at the age of 20 years and 74 days until Dani Pedrosa broke his record in 2004. After securing the 250cc world title in 2002, Melandri moved up to MotoGP class to spearhead Yamaha factory team alongside Carlos Checa in 2003. The Yamaha was less competitive than Honda and Ducati, and he struggled to succeed for the season. He finished the season in fifteenth position without collecting any wins and only two third places. He joined Yamaha satellite team, Tech 3 in 2004 alongside Norick Abe. This season, he again struggled to get top results. Although he managed to collect two consecutive podiums, a series of crashes and retirements kept him out of the top 10 in overall standings. He finished the season in twelfth position.

Released from his Yamaha contract after the 2004 season, Melandri was the surprise choice of boss Fausto Gresini to join Sete Gibernau in the Movistar Honda team for the 2005 MotoGP campaign. Melandri was remarkably successful with Movistar Honda in 2005, with a consistent run of podium finishes early in the season, ultimately taking his first two wins in the final two races of 2005 to clinch second place in the championship. In doing so, he was the first Honda rider to win back-to-back races for nearly two years, winning the final two rounds of the MotoGP Championship at Istanbul, Turkey, and in Valencia. Although he never really challenged his best friend Valentino Rossi for the title, he finished the season strongly as runner-up, with a total of two wins and five other podiums. Melandri rode for Gresini's Fortuna Honda team alongside Toni Elías in the 2006 season. With Rossi struggling to find consistency, he was a major challenger, along with Ducati's Loris Capirossi and Honda riders Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa. He again won at Istanbul, despite starting from fourteenth on the grid. He managed further wins at Le Mans, France and Phillip Island, Australia. He finished the season in fourth position, just one point behind Capirossi. In 2007, Melandri and Elias remained in the Honda Gresini team, now sponsored by Hannspree. Honda's 800cc machine was not competitive. Melandri finished on the podium at Laguna Seca and Le Mans – at this point he and works rider Dani Pedrosa were the only Honda riders with multiple podiums. He ultimately finished fifth overall, second only to Pedrosa among the Honda riders.

Immediately after Melandri's 3rd place finish in the 2007 USA's MotoGP round, Ducati announced that he would join its factory team alongside Casey Stoner for 2008 and 2009. But 2008 proved disastrous, with a run of uncompetitive runs often leaving him behind the semi-works Alice Team bikes of Toni Elías and Sylvain Guintoli. At Assen he qualified last and ran there throughout. A rumoured mid-season move to Kawasaki did not occur, however Melandri announced that he would be joining Kawasaki Racing Team for the 2009 MotoGP season to ride alongside his new team-mate John Hopkins on 19 August. He then ended the season in a lacklustre 17th position. Kawasaki pulled its factory involvement for 2009, leading to fears that Melandri would not have a ride, however a rescue package was agreed to allow Melandri to run the bike for a one-bike semi-works Hayate Racing team, despite his concerns over the bike's poor rear traction. In 2009 Melandri achieved his first podium since 2007 with his 2nd place finish at the wet French motorcycle Grand Prix. His only other top six finishes were in the first three races, as the team tailed off bike development and Melandri finished tenth overall. At Brno he battled Mika Kallio for sixth before a penultimate-lap collision between the two. For 2010 Melandri returns to Gresini Honda, with a factory-spec RC212V bike from the start. Full factory support had sometimes been promised but not provided during his first Gresini spell. The team made set-up errors in its initial testing.
Melandri will move into the Superbike World Championship from 2011 with the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team. He will replace Cal Crutchlow, who is moving to the Tech 3 team in MotoGP.

Marco Melandri performance at race

Marco Melandri cute pose with his costume

Marco Melandri cool pose