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Marco Melandri
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Marco Melandri born on August 7th, 1982 in Ravenna is a famous Italian motorbike road racer. He scored a stunning victory in 2002 winning the 250cc class World Championship title.
Melandri grew up while learning to race under the watchful eyes of former racing star Loris Reggiani and quickly graduated from minibikes to motocross to winning the first Italian 125cc championship in 1997. He further finished 4th place in European 125cc championship.
Melandri finally entered the world championship 125cc class in 1998. In his thrilling debut season, Melandri riding for Benneton Honda team brilliantly finished 3rd by taking two Grand Prix wins. In his maiden season he has also achieved the distinction of becoming the youngest racer to win a Grand Prix at 15 years 10 months and 24 days. The following year, despite taking five brilliant Grand Prix wins he missed his world championship title by a lone point conceding it to Emilio Alzamora.
As Valentino Rossi moved over from 250cc to 500cc class Melandri took his place at Aprilia in 2000. For two years Marco Melandri struggled hard to adapt himself to the bigger bikes and the big championships and fought bitter battles on the tracks improving his racing abilities each season. He finished 5th in his debut season in 2000 and 3rd the next season.
In 2002 Melandri entered the season with a strong determination to win the championship. He dominated the entire season. With nine race wins and three podium finishes Marco Melandri walked away with the 250cc World Championship title in 2002 becoming the youngest ever champion to win the 250cc title at 20 years 2 months and 14 days. Two years later Dani Pedrosa broke this record.
In 2003, Melandri moved to MotoGP class and joined Carlos Checa on Yamaha team and raced for 2 seasons. In both the seasons he encountered disastrous crashes and finished a poor 15th and 12 in respective seasons.
In 2005, Marco Melandri joined Sete Gibernau in his movistar Honda and displaying his electrifying performance on the tracks Melandri finished a brilliant second place with two back-to-back race wins and 5 podium positions. It was Rossi, his best friend who stopped him on the tracks and raced away with the 5th consecutive MotoGP title, leaving behind his friend Melandri in second place. The following year Melandri maintaining his consistency in form and style finished a brilliant fourth position.
In 2007, Melandri racing for Honda Gresini is considered the hot contender for the prestigious MotoGP title.
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