Ravenna, September 11, 2026 – Marco Melandri returns to Romagna, on the MotoGP weekend in Misano, but he does it without a helmet. In the place that for years was the stage of his races, the 44-year-old from Ravenna this time will be behind a console: a second life, without regretting the track.
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He returns to Romagna where he raced so many times, but as a DJ, how does it feel?
“Music is a passion I have had since the beginning of my career. I have always been a DJ for fun, at home, also to relax my mind during my racing career. It’s like two worlds coming together.”
Excuse me?
“A bit like the past and the present together: MotoGP mixed with the console. It would be a dream to one day play music at a MotoGP race, at a circuit, for the people present.”
How did this passion start?
“In ’97 I found my father’s turntable and some vinyls: Air Supply, Europe, late eighties bands. On Radio Deejay there were DJ Tank and Prezioso with ’Lo Scratch Nervoso’. He scratched, I tried. I liked it and so I bought the first turntables and other equipment.”
Before a night event do you prepare everything or improvise?
“I always improvise. For the nights I bring several USB sticks, with different music, and I choose based on the event.”
Was music part of your pre-race ritual?
“Yes. I wasn’t attached to one song: I listened to different genres depending on my mood, from pop to rock, from techno to R&B. I did it while getting dressed, whenever I could I listened.”
Choose three songs to tell your life.
“In the End by Linkin Park, The Rhythm of the Night by Corona and Opus by Eric Prydz. The last one is a kind of intro: it represents my career change from motorcycling to music.”
If I say Misano, what is your best memory and the one that makes you most angry?
“The first victory of the Italian 125 championship, in ’97. Then the Superbike win in 2017 with Ducati. Bad was the 2007 MotoGP GP: I had a terrible crash.”
Do you miss racing?
“No, I had fun but today I’m fine like this. I would have made different choices in the past on the track, but I didn’t have the chance. I was forced to change many times.”
You have lived for 5 years in Switzerland with your partner Manuela Raffaetà and your 12-year-old daughter, Martina. But even there you do a lot of sports.
“I have always been hyperactive: lying on a beach bed, for example, is a waste of time for me. Sport is a habit: road biking, mountain biking, padel, gym, I do them without schedules. It’s the calm Melandri, in nature.”
And what is Melandri the dad like?
“I am quite strict and severe. But I support my daughter in what she likes and make her try various sports. I never made her take anything seriously at a competitive level: she has to discover what she likes and decide on her own.”
As a dad I am quite strict and severe. But I support my daughter in what she likes and make her try various sports
Among Martina’s passions are motors too?
“Sometimes I let her ride a motorcycle and go-karts, because it’s right that she knows how to ride, so she will be ready when she gets her scooter license. Now she is passionate about acrobatic dance, aerial silks, the kind you see in circuses basically.”
And do you miss your Romagna?
“I appreciate it more now, coming back every 3-4 months. I go to the sea, see friends, I enjoy everything more.”
Those provocative no-vax statements about Covid (“I’ll get infected so I’ll have the green Pass”) plunged you into controversy. In hindsight, would you say them again?
“Time is proving me right on many things I said. I was for freedom of choice and against certain impositions. Today some questions I asked myself then are still valid.”
Do you like Kimi Antonelli?
“Impossible not to appreciate him, he is amazing everyone. He has the best car, but so does Russell, who on track can’t keep up with his pace. I like Kimi’s personality: normal and close to people. F1 sells superstars, he is the opposite, genuine: fans like him like that.”
Have you had a reconciliation with Valentino Rossi?
“No, we have different lives and live far away, so we wouldn’t have a way to have relations. We drifted apart, it’s part of life.”
At least the Tavullia Academy is a good way to grow Italian riders?
“It’s the only path there is in Italy, but it’s too expensive. The riders who arrived, from Bagnaia to Bezzecchi, were already trained. Many go to Spain to grow, also because of the costs.”
If Marc Marquez wins the 10th title and surpasses Vale in titles, would it be right?
“Marc races with only one and a half arms, the right side muscles are atrophied. I believe he deserves it: he is making the difference alone on a Ducati today inferior to the Aprilia.”
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