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Leon Camier Says MV Agusta Doesn't Need Marco Melandri in WSBK

Leon Camier, MV Agusta's World Superbike sole rider, shared his vision about how the team should be taking things this year, and his statement also included some remarks against having Marco Melandri as a teammate.
Leon Camier 1 photo
Photo: worldsbk.com
The 2016 World Superbike season will debut on February 28 at Phillip Island and the dice are cast, so to speak. Unfortunately, ex-MotoGP rider Marco Melandri remains unemployed, despite having tested with MV Agusta and their racing outfit, Forward Racing.

Melandri, who has 19 victories in WSBK to his name, was invited by Forward Racing boss Giovanni Cuzari to try the MV Agusta F4 race machine. Melandri was glad to accept and was impressed by the motorcycles. However, it turned out that the test ride was not enough to convince MV Agusta and Forward Racing to line up a second rider on the grid.

Camier says that a second rider in the team would have negative consequences

Leon Camier finished the 2015 Superbike season in the thirteenth position with 83 points, a hefty distance down from the podium, where Jonathan Rea won the title with 548 points, followed by Chaz Davies and Tom Sykes, with 416 and 399 points, respectively.

The Brit acknowledges that MV Agusta still has a lot of work to do with the F4 and says that, before the team can think of expansion, the bike must become significantly more competitive.

He also says that the chassis, engine and electronics are the key aspects that MV Agusta should be focusing on. Even more, Camier adds that the Italian manufacturer doesn't even have the adequate resources to field a two-rider team in World Superbike, and given the level of the F4 machine, such a move would be a mistake.

Now, it will be interesting to see what clearance Camier had to make such statements, and how his team would react to them. As to Marco Melandri, we can guess that his love for Camier has not increased, even though the Brit did not attack or insult the Italian.

So far, MV Agusta is doing much better in the SuperSport championship, with Lorenzo Zanetti ending the 2015 season third on the podium, and Jules Cluzel in the fourth position, only three points behind him. We also know that MV Agusta has MotoGP plans, so we'll keep an eye on the Varese maker this year.
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