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Sakset fra Crash.net :

After two often frustrating seasons in MotoGP with Yamaha - the
highlight of which was a pair of podiums early in 2004, before a
sudden and drastic decline that saw him fail to score points in seven
of the last nine races - Marco Melandri appeared almost a broken man
at the end of last season.

With confidence in his team and machinery at an all time low, the
former 250cc world champion clearly wanted out of the Tech 3 outfit -
and was offered a career saving lifeline by one of the most respected
teams in the paddock, Movistar Honda, headed by double 125cc world
champion Fausto Gresini.

The resulting 'marriage' has seen Melandri reborn, the Italian
shedding his previous frequent faller image and replacing it with a
level of pace and consistency hat at times ahs been a match for
team-mate, and double MotoGP runner-up, Sete Gibernau.

The result has been a third and fourth from the opening two events of
2005 - placing Marco third, behind only Valentino Rossi and Alex
Barros, in the early riders' world championship.

But how did it happen?

It was obvious to Gresini and his massively experienced crew chief
Fabrizio Cecchini, that Melandri's talents would only flourish in the
correct environment. So they adopted a carefully considered plan to
build confidence and calmness in equal parts, and curb the
22-year-old's natural urge to go as fast as possible all of the time.

Gresini is no stranger to helping riders progress their careers. He
was a prime mover in the transition of Loris Capirossi from
enfant-terrible to double 125-title winner, after Fausto broke his leg
and ended his own chance of yet another crown.

Before joining Team Gresini, the already experienced Gibernau was far
from the force he is now and Gresini hopes that Melandri can also
benefit from the team's family environment and proven technical
skills.

In my opinion Marco has a chance to enjoy a good experience with us in
MotoGP," he said. "At 22 he is a very young rider, and with one 250cc
title to his credit, he obviously has a lot of potential. But right
now what is most important is that he can have a team which is like a
family for him. In my team, it is like family."

The family feeling is due to the long relationships enjoyed by some
members of staff, who have been an integral part of the outfit since
day one.

"The keys to Marco's development are many," explained Fausto,
"Fabrizio Cecchini, who worked at the top level with Daijiro Kato, for
example. He is a very good chief mechanic and controls everything for
Marco. I have known Fabrizio for 20 years, he has been with me since
the very beginning."

"When Marco arrived in our team he had two difficult years in MotoGP,
losing confidence in himself and his team," confirmed Cecchini
himself. "Our plan was to put him under no pressure, to explain
everything I know about the bike to him step-by-step. Engine,
electronics, tyres.

"Then we got him to evaluate just one thing at a time, concentrated
only on that. We wanted to understand what he said. Marco appreciated
our approach and he grew in confidence. We needed to get him to trust
us when he was out on the track," he added.

Melandri willingly acknowledges what the team were doing for him, and
realized early on that it was just what he needed.

"When I arrived in the Gresini team it was just after what had
probably been the worst period of my career and my life. I was very
sad inside because nothing was good last year," he confessed.
"Thinking about racing, I had completely lost confidence and
everything was so difficult for me.

"For me it was important to have good relationship with the team. They
understood my situation and really it was like I was a very young
baby. The first things they did were to give me confidence and try to
make me smile. When I started to smile, to understand, we talked
together about the plan for the tests through the whole winter.

"At that time it was impossible for me to think that I could be on the
podium at the first race in Jerez. But even after the first test I was
very happy because when I stopped at the garage I saw on people's
faces that they were smiling, happy to work with me. This gave me a
lot of confidence.

"The 2004 season was difficult to forget, but the new team helped me
to enjoy myself again. When you forget what you did before, only then
can you start again to rebuild something new and better," he said.

Marco, having now ridden 125 and 250cc two-strokes and with two years
on the YZR-M1, now knows a good bike when he sees it, and pays homage
to the part the proven RC211V has played in his recent turnaround.

"The balance of the Honda is simpler and it is good because you cannot
move so many things," he commented. "You cannot change a lot of
geometry on the bike. Sometimes you have some problems but you see
some of the other Honda riders are fast. And you think inside yourself
'they can go fast with the same bike that you have.'

"I think this gives you a big motivation. My Yamaha last year was very
different from Valentino's bike. You could change every kind of
geometry of the bike. When you lost your way, it was so difficult to
come back," he added.

"In the winter Marco worked more for mileage and feeling," detailed
Gresini. "On two occasions he had crashes in off-season testing, and
after that he felt like he was finished. So we had to explain to him
in details why he crashed, what his main target was, not just the lap
time.

"All we asked him about was the balance of the bike, how the tyres
felt. We were not worried about the gap to other riders; we wanted him
to think about the more important things, like how the bike feels. The
bike did not need developing, Marco needed to develop," he stated.

Marco's headstrong approach to riding when he joined the team at first
may have been a necessary evil for any rider intent on beating the
best in the world, but Cecchini took some radical steps to protect his
new charge from himself.

"The mistake that all riders make first time out is to push to the
limit before they know the bike," revealed Cecchini. "The first things
that Marco wanted to see were the times, so one of the first things I
did was to cover the display on the bike and the displays on the
computers in the pit box, with sheets of paper. Marco could not see
any times.

"He asked about them and I said, 'don't worry about that, how do you
feel.' There was an immediate change when he covered the times up. He
was only three tenths slower than Sete, without realizing what times
he did, just by not pushing to match a certain lap time.

"Before covering the times Marco had said "tomorrow I will go faster,
definitely faster" - and he went half a second slower. He was only
obsessed with pushing, not working with the bike. The other thing I
realized was that if there was another rider in front of Marco, then
he would try to catch him. Even if Marco did not have a good feeling
with the bike, he was just thinking about catching the rider in front.

"So he made a lot of mistakes, and when he came back into the pits he
would complain about the bike in certain sections. But it was only so
that he could go faster than the other rider through that section. So
every time he came up behind another rider we put out his pitboard and
brought him into the pits!

"At the first few winter tests he was lapping always alone! All we
wanted to do was to get him used to the bike. Only when we felt he was
prepared, did we let him lap quickly on the bike with other riders,"
added Cecchini.

Gresini takes up the story: "If Marco is practicing on track and it is
no good we will stop him in the box. He sometimes says, 'Ah, I am bad
and many riders are stronger.' Then we sit him down, keep him talking,
talking about the bike, what is good and bad about the set-up, where
it works, what he prefers.

"Then only then send him back out. After we have finished his
mentality and ready to restart, he is changed and he can go back out.
If he had just continued on as he was, he would have gone down,"
stated Fausto.

Meanwhile, Cecchini acknowledges that in a team with Sete Gibernau and
a sorted machine and tyre package, there was only one variable left;
Marco. Which made the task clearer, if still a challenge.

"The bike is already so balanced and together, running good tyres,
that all we had to work on was Marco. We worked only on the mentality
of the rider," he said.

"The mind is more important than ever before," underlined Gresini.
"Starting on a Yamaha was a complicated way for Marco in MotoGP. I
spoke to Michelin and last year they were not that happy when they
worked with him. But this year they are much happier. Now it is a
complete change. It is important to have the correct willpower to work
and win. And we are helping Marco with that more than anything."

For Cecchini, Melandri has been a willing and able pupil, who has
passed all the important first hurdles with room to spare. Even
Marco's podium placing in round one came not through aggression but a
cool head and attention to the job in hand.

"The first race is like an examination of all the winter tests, so it
is important not to try and exceed the limit," said Fabrizio.
"Otherwise you crash - and destroy all the work you have done over the
winter.

"At Jerez, when we saw Marco was at the limit, we put out the board to
say 'OK, slow down', because he had a good gap to fifth. Marco
listened to us, responded by slowing down just a little and that was a
victory for us.

"So when the rider in front crashed, and Marco got the podium well,
that was just the final prize to cap it all," he smiled.

Melandri will attempt to claim his second podium of the season at
round three of the world championship, at Shanghai, this weekend.



--
-Michael
No. 74 riding shotgun...