Marco Melandri scored a couple of excellent results in the first round of his new World Superbike career at Phillip Island. The factory Yamaha man picked up a fifth and a third place in the two races, immediately proving he has the right stuff to fight at the top, and a podium in race 2 puts him in a good position to face the second round of the season at Donington at the end of March. WorldSBK.com spoke to the Italian about his debut in World Superbike.

First round, a podium and third place in the standings. Not a bad start to the season?

"For sure, I didn't expect to come back from Australia with a third place in the table and a podium, because we hadn't done much testing with the new bike and also because I knew that it was something new for me to have to face up to two races on the same day. After the first race, I knew I could improve for the second, and luckily that's the way it went. This gave me great satisfaction and considerable stimulus for the future."

The Phillip Island round was the first chance for you to face your rivals this season. What are your impressions?

"The level is very high! As I expected many riders were fast in the early laps on new tyres, while with the drop in tyre performance the gap between them increased. In any case I expected Checa and Biaggi to be constant, while I'm still waiting to see how well Rea and Haslam go."

The next round is at Donington Park, a track you know well...

"Donington is a track that I like a lot and I think that the characteristics of our bike are ideal for this circuit, seeing as it's well-balanced and performs well in the curvy bits. I hope the weather is on our side so we can have a couple of races in the dry, the rest will speak for itself. In any case I'm feeling pretty confident."