Date and place of birth: 07/08/1982, Ravenna (Italy)
Age: 22
Nationality: Italian
Residence: Derby (GBR)
Weight: 61kg
Height: 164cm

Sporting Biography 

1997: Winner 125cc Italian Championship (Honda)
Winner Honda 125 RS Trophy
4^th 125cc European Championship (Honda)
1998: 3^rd 125cc World Championship (Honda)
1999: 2^nd 125cc World Championship (Honda)
2000: 5^th 250cc World Championship (Aprilia)
2001: 3^rd 250cc 125cc World Championship (Aprilia)
2002: 250cc World Champion (Aprilia)
2003: 15^th MotoGP World Championship (Yamaha)
2004: 12^th MotoGP World Championship (Yamaha)

Career in detail

1st GP:	1997 Czech Rep. GP (125cc)
1st Pole:	1998 German GP (125cc)
1st Podium:	1998 Italian GP (125cc)
1st Victory:	1998 Dutch TT (125cc)
Full seasons:	7 (1998-2004)
GP appearances:	104 (29 in 125cc, 47 in 250cc, 28 in MotoGP)
Victories:	17 (7 in 125cc and 10 in 250 cc)
Second place:	14 (7 in 125cc and 7 in 250cc)
Third place:	13 (3 in 125 cc, 8 in 250cc and 2 in MotoGP)
Total podiums:	44 (17 in 125cc, 25 in 250cc and 2 in MotoGP)
Poles:	9 (6 in 125cc and 3 in 250cc)
Fastest laps:	13 (5 in 125cc and 8 in 250cc)

World Championship statistics

Season	Category	Factory	Classification	Points
1998	125cc	Honda	3rd	202
1999	125cc	Honda	2nd	226
2000	250cc	Aprilia	5th	159
2001	250cc	Aprilia	3rd	194
2002	250cc	Aprilia	1st	298
2003	MotoGP	Yamaha	15th	45
2004	MotoGP	Yamaha	12th	75

Personal Biography 

Marco Melandri inherited his passion for motorcycles from his father, whom he would follow as a rider in the Italian Championship. It was former Grand Prix rider Loris Reggiani who introduced Marco to racing at the age of six, taking his first steps in motocross, mini-bikes and the 125cc Italian Championship. His rise was meteoric and at just 15 years of age he made his 125cc World Championship debut, having won the Italian title and finished fourth in the European series with Honda.

Still riding for the Japanese factory, in 1998 he became the youngest rider ever to win a Grand Prix in the Dutch TT at Assen. This record (15 years and 324 days) still stands. After taking third in the World Championship that season, in 1999 he finished runner-up and was signed up by Aprilia to take the 250cc ride vacated by his great friend Valentino Rossi.

Marco soon became one of the lead riders in the quarter-litre category and took just three seasons to clinch overall glory. His rookie season in 2000 saw the youngster take fifth place overall, finishing third in 2001 behind Daijiro Kato and Tetsuya Harada and taking his first win at the Sachsenring circuit. In 2002 he dominated the category with nine wins and became World Champion at the age of 20.

His swift progress and undoubted talent saw him make the step up to the MotoGP class in 2003 with Yamaha, ending the championship in fifteenth place. His debut MotoGP season was anything but easy; a broken leg after a serious crash in the opening Grand Prix of the season marked the start of an injury-strewn year that represented a painful period of learning for the rookie.

The experience proved to be invaluable in 2004 as, still with Yamaha, he battled to his first two MotoGP podiums at Catalunya and Assen, finishing the season in twelfth place. In 2005, Marco Melandri returns to Honda, the factory with which he made his Grand Prix debut, as part of Fausto Gresini’s Telefónica MoviStar Honda MotoGP team.