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Melandri Fears to Miss Out on Superbike Debut

Marco Melandri fans will be kept guessing for the upcoming couple of months, as it appears the Italian's debut in the World Superbike Championship is now in doubt. Apparently, the problems with his shoulder are not as light as initially revealed and, according to his latest message on Twitter, the pain is still very much there.

Bad present for Christmas... For sure better now than in a month... Hope to be ready for round 1…” he posted on Twitter, expressing hopes that he will be able to ride his WSBK spec Yamaha bike at Phillip Island next year.

Earlier this month, he had revealed through the same social networking site that he feels some pain in his shoulder, but later assured his fans that it must be him “getting old.”

Having competed in the MotoGP series since 2003, Melandri accepted to make the switch to World Superbikes for the 2011 campaign, his first in career. However, even if he puts his debut in the WSBK in doubt, Melandri will have to be fit much sooner than the February kick-off, as official testing for the upcoming season starts in January.

Partnering him for the Yamaha Sterilgarda World Superbike Team will be Eugene Laverty, another rider that made his first starts in international motorcycling racing in FIM's feeder series 125cc. For 2011, Melandri will replace British rider Cal Crutchlow, who was promoted by the Japanese company to MotoGP, in the Tech 3 lineup (satellite team for Yamaha MotoGP Team).
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