The Aruba.it Ducati factory team at World Superbike may have already closed their riders lineup for next season, having resigned Chaz Davies and confirmed the arrival of Alvaro Bautista coming in from MotoGP.
But not everyone is happy with how negotiations turned out…
Marco Melandri, the rider that lost his ride for Bautista to arrive on the team, isn’t happy with the way Ducati has treated him and especially what the Italian managers did in the past few months while negotiations were ongoing for Melandri to remain on the team.
According to the experienced Italian rider, Ducati didn’t speak to him about what they wanted to do in 2019, and then he got the news that Bautista was the chosen rider through the media
“No one has talked to me saying that I was out of the team. I got to know things by the media, there was no contact from Ducati, they didn’t even send me an e-mail. I’m sure they knew what they wanted since June. I spoke with Stefano Cecconi before Misano and he told me to wait a bit more, then at Misano he told me the same thing and then we were at the World Ducati Week and I was told by a journalist that Baustista had signed for Ducati”, said Alvaro Bautista to newsportal SpeedWeek.
When asked if Ducati had chosen Bautista because of contract values, Melandri is keen to point that that’s an impossible situation since he isn’t too expensive
“Fu*k, I’m the least expensive rider in the paddock. I charge 150 thousand euros per season, Chaz Davies charges 1.3 millions, that’s nine times more than I do. Ducati never asked me how much I wanted for 2019. It’s impossible that Alvaro Bautista is cheaper than me, so there are other reasons behind this”, says Melandri.
So, without a seat secured to race in World Superbike next season, what does the future hold for Marco Melandri?
For the moment the Italian rider is still trying to find a spot in WSBK, but since there aren’t too many options available, especially with competitive bikes, Melandri is now available to move to the American Superbike championship, MotoAmerica.
On the other hand, Ducati Superbike manager Serafino Foti says that Ducati has spoken with both Melandri and his manager, Alberto Vergani, and Ducati wants to end the partnership in the best way possible. But the fact that Melandri has spoken publicly about this subject, means that the relationship between him and Ducati won’t be an easy one until the end of the season.