BMW Motorrad factory rider Marco Melandri has hit out at the new one-bike rule in the World Superbike Championship.
Melandri, who joined BMW after Yamaha's decision to withdraw its factory effort in the series, said the one-bike move was 'not very positive'.
“As far as I am concerned it is always better to have two bikes, because I always raced with two bikes. If in qualifying you have a small problem on one bike, you have the chance to continue on the second,” he said.
“That was also especially good for the sponsors. So for me this is not very positive, but it is the same for everyone. So now we need to prepare just one bike for the race. I am sure it will work out ok.”
The 29-year-old is joined by Leon Haslam in the team and Melandri is happy to link up with the Briton as they strive to get the best of the S1000-RR.
“We get on very well. I have known him since the time I lived fairly close to him in England. I think it is good for the team for us to be team mates because it means we can push each other, which is good for results,” he said.
“We do have different riding styles, but we have agreed on what changes to make to the bike so that we can work in the same direction in order to move the team forward.”
Melandri admitted that he was surprised by some aspects of the bike and the former MotoGP star is confident he can be competitive for BMW.
“I am happy with it. Before I tested it for the first time, some people made me very scared because I had some bad experiences with the Ducati in 2008.
“When I jumped on the bike for the first time I discovered some difficult areas, but I was also pleasantly surprised by many of its positives. During the test with the 2011 bike I saw that it is a 'normal' bike without any pitfalls.
“We just need to take the pieces and put them together in the best way to provide the optimal package. Of course it was a lot of work over the winter, and we will see how long it takes us to have this optimal package.
“However, I am happy about the bike and about how it feels, so I am very confident. I think good confidence is the only thing a rider needs to be fast.
“When I am fast I score good results – and I always enjoy doing that. That is why that is my target.
“I would like to have some good fights, score good results and feel good on the bike. Then it is a lot of good fun – and the good results will also be there.”
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