A former MotoGP champion's blunt critique of the sport's current state: 'It's not thrilling anymore'
Marco Melandri, a five-time MotoGP race winner, has delivered a scathing assessment of the championship's current iteration, stating, 'It doesn't excite me much.'
Melandri, a former 250cc world champion, raced in MotoGP from 2003 to 2010, riding for Yamaha, Honda, Ducati, and Kawasaki. His first premier-class victory came in 2005 on a Honda, and he went on to win twice that year, finishing second in the standings. He added three more wins in 2006.
In 2011, Melandri moved to World Superbikes but made a brief return to MotoGP in 2015 with Aprilia, though he completed only eight rounds before being replaced, against his wishes.
MotoGP is in its final year under the current regulations, which have seen a decline in overtaking due to aero development and ride height devices. Melandri, in an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, criticized the modern MotoGP, saying, 'It's not that I really like making comparisons, but I don't like it at all. It's true that today's races don't excite me much.'
He continued, 'And it's no coincidence that on social media and YouTube, they often show the 2006 races, when three or four of us were within a second. That's not possible now, because with the speed they have, they can't afford to even break away a meter later.'
Looking ahead, MotoGP plans to introduce 850cc engines, ban ride height devices, and restrict aero parts from 2027, aiming to enhance safety and the on-track spectacle. However, these new rules have already faced criticism, notably from Casey Stoner, who believes they don't go far enough.
In the same interview, Melandri expressed his biggest career regret: 'I would have liked to be Valentino [Rossi's] teammate. We've been together since we were kids, and I've always been competitive with him.'
Melandri joined the Crash.net team in August 2024 after five years as a journalist covering MotoGP for the Motorsport Network.
