July 29th, 2008 by R.J.

Marco Melandri is forced to wait and see if he will return to Ducati for 2009 or if he will be replaced by another World Championship runner-up, Sete Gibernau.

A little over one year ago, Melandri signed a contract to ride for Ducati for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. But before this year’s Laguna Seca race the 2009 season contract was cancelled by mutual agreement and he is now left to convince potential future team’s that he will be competitive next season.

Whether he does this on-track or solely through negotiation from the sidelines remains to be seen.

Signs of improvement had been evident at Laguna Seca and Sachsenring, but on both circuits, after a positive start, Melandri had little to show for it. His best result for his current team thus far has been fifth in China.

The speculation that Ducati may field a line-up consisting of no Italian riders continues to be discussed, however, and the 25 year-old faces a nervous summer break awaiting Ducati’s decision.

Melandri had this to say:
“I’m just waiting to see what I have to do. I have a contract with Ducati until the end of the year, I’m a Ducati rider. If they want to stop with me then I have to do what they want, so I just have to wait.”