Unassailable Melandri puts Laguna demons to bed

Marco Melandri demonstrated there were no team orders in the Aprilia garage by racing to his second World Superbike double of 2014 at Jerez.

A crash whilst leading the previous race at Laguna all but ended the Italian's title hopes but he showed some of the form that made him irresistible at Sepang, catching and passing team-mate Sylvain Guintoli in the closing laps of both races.

Melandri, who is believed to have already signed a deal to race in Aprilia's MotoGP return in 2015, started slowly in race one and was as low as sixth in an eight rider dice for the lead in the early laps. As the race progressed, however, the 32-year old set about picking off the riders in front.

By lap eleven he moved into third past countryman Davide Giugliano and followed that with a contentious move on Loris Baz at the Dry Sac hairpin. The Frenchman went down after failing to anticipate Melandri's line but his progress to the front remained unimpeded.

"My target is to go race by race," he said. "At Laguna I was so disappointed because I thought I could have won the two races there. This weekend my team and I started off well straight away, changing very little on the bike and my RSV4 performed very well today. At the beginning of each race I struggled a bit but I started feeling better and better on the bike."

Despite getting a fine start in the second race he was quickly demoted to fourth by a typically aggressive Giugliano move at Nieto Curve. Like race one he bided his time and refused to get flustered as Guintoli built a 1.5 second lead.

The change of temperature had affected the grip levels on track and Melandri's set up came to him as the laps passed by. Once past third placed Sykes he closed Guintoli's lead in a matter of laps, getting by at turn one on lap 16.

"In race two it was a bit more difficult because with the higher temperatures the track has less grip," Melandri said. "I tried to be consistent even though I wasn't really fast at the beginning of the race, but I managed to maintain my pace steadily, making up places on the other riders.

"I manage to catch the front group. I'm happy because I can keep going until the end and this was a great Sunday for me. Now I can relax for a few days before getting back on the track. I'm really happy."

His maximum 50 point haul of the season sees him move up to fourth in the WSBK standings ahead of Loris Baz.