Aprilia’s Marco Melandri did not get off to the best of starts for his team in the second World Superbike round on the Spanish Aragon track over the weekend.

In the first race, hindered by a sudden drop in tyre performance, Melandri alongside team-mate Sylvain Guintoli progressively lost contact with the leading pack and were forced to run a defensive race. After a good start the Aprilia standard bearers gradually lost positions and although Guintoli managed to finish in 6th place, Melandri dropped down to eleventh.

 In race two, with more normal temperature conditions, Melandri and his Aprilia came back into the best pace. Starting from the seventh spot on the grid, he began a series of battles with the riders ahead of him, leaving Guintoli, Ducati’s Chaz Davies, Davide Giugliano and Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea in his exhaust, taking position after position until, four laps from the end, catching up Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Loris Baz, the pair of which had led the entire race, keeping all their adversaries at bay.

Trying to stay glued to Sykes' wheel at the end of the last straight stretch he carried out a braking move and he went too wide and wound up in third place.

“It's a shame that we basically wasted Race one. From the very first laps I was struggling and wasn't able to keep my pace. In the second race we made some changes with the team and the bike was working much better,” said Melandri.

“I only lost a bit of time in the first part of the race. I had a little trouble braking going into turns but lap by lap I gained confidence until catching up the front runners. I overtook Baz and at that point, with the win within a shout, my DNA pushed me to make a go of it even if maybe I was a little too far behind Sykes.

“Unfortunately I went wide and finished third, but I had to prove that I could win and I will take that confidence with me to Assen to get my first win of the season.”