Mike Di Meglio

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Mike Di Meglio
No free image
Nationality	French
Date of birth	January 17, 1988 (1988-01-17) (age 20)^[1]
Place of birth	Toulouse, France

125cc World Championship Record
Current team	Ajo Motorsport
Bike number	63
World Championships
Race starts	78
Race Wins	2
Podium finishes	4
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
Championship Points	42 in 2007
2007 Championship position	17th

Mike Di Meglio (born 17 January 1988 in Toulouse, France) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer who currently competes in 125cc world championship.

Di Meglio is a Frenchman of Italian descent. He first came to the attention of the Fédération Française de Motocyclisme (French Motorcycle Federation) 2002 Prix de l'Avenir. He also took a trial with the Liegois team in Carole, with whom he took part in a Spanish Championship race. Later he raced at world championship level in 2003

1 Biography
2 Grand Prix motorcycle racing career
- 2.1 By class
- 2.2 By seasons and teams
3 References
4 External Links

[edit] Biography

[edit] 2003, Debut with Aprilia, switch to Honda later

When Di Meglio turned 15 years old, he decided to accept offers by the Italian Freesoul Racing Team on Aprilia to debut in the 125cc world championship in 2003. Although he managed to score points, including 13th place at Catalunya, it was a difficult season for him, crashing often and not achieving good results. Later, at the mid-season , he was offered by the Italian MetaSystem Rg Service to replace Italian veteran Andrea Ballerini, but this time the team was on Honda, he tried to attempt to achieve his goals, but he failed to improve and didn't score any championship points.

[edit] 2004, Ride with Globet.com, first front-row start and first top five finish

After a disappointing 2003, Di Meglio vowed to salvage a wrecked debut. He signed with Globet.com Racing on Aprilia alongside with Gino Borsoi for the 2004 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. The start was promising with a front-row start and a fifth place finish at South Africa, but he failed to be consistent due to several crashes.

[edit] 2005, Ride with Team Scot, first podium and first win

Di Meglio stayed with the same team for 2005, but his team joined forces with Team Scot which runs on Honda machinery, the same team that helped Andrea Dovizioso win the 2004 125cc World Championship. Di Meglio was their official rider along with Fabrizio Lai but it was under the Kopron Racing World name. His performance improved, scoring points regularly. He performed heroically at the French Grand Prix by fighting for a podium position, finishing fourth and making his home fans happy and entertained. However, it was his podium finish in the wet British Grand Prix by finishing second place behind Julián Simón, which gave him a reputation as a wet weather expert. He also finished a credible fourth place in the hot Qatar motorcycle Grand Prix ahead of future 125cc champion Thomas Luthi. The high point of the season for the Italian-Frenchman, was his controversial win at the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix, when Mika Kallio crashed and race leader Luthi had run wide to avoid him. This was his best result to date.

[edit] 2006, Ride with FFM Honda GP 125cc

He joined the Fédération Française de Motocyclisme's world championship team run by Allain Bronec for 2006. The FFM Honda GP 125 team also provide him a standard Honda RS125R kit, similar to his old team provided him in 2005. The start of the season was very disappointing, managing to score only one point in five races. The team's poor performance achieved only eight points during the season and Di Meglio immediately left the team after the season ended.

[edit] 2007, Return to Team Scot. Master of wet races

For 2007, Di Meglio returned to Team Scot, the same team that helped him win his first Grand Prix in 2005. He was teamed with the young Italian Stefano Musco. In the first several races, he manage to score championship points. He had a very bad crash during qualifying for the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix, breaking his collarbone and causing him to sit out the Turkish Grand Prix. When he returned at the Chinese Grand Prix, he managed to challenge his fellow riders and scored championship points. His best finishes were both wet races, sixth place at the British Grand Prix and fourth place but potentially a podium position before crashing to fourth at the Japanese Grand Prix. His best qualifying position was a second at the wet Italian Grand Prix alongside with his later teamate Dino Lombardi. His enhanced reputation in wet races was one of the highlights of his season despite disappointing results.

[edit] 2008, Ride with Ajo Motorsport

For the 2008 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season, he was offered to ride with the Finnish Ajo Motorsport, teamed with Dominique Aegerter. He returned to Aprilia machines, but officially rides for Aprilia's sister Piaggio company, Derbi. He is currently riding for the Derbi RSA 125 factory bike. It also means that for the first time he is on a team which is not an Italian team nor a French team.

He started season on a high note, and his win at home race in Le Mans gave him lead in the championship, also he clocked the Italian GP's new lap record in the 125cc class, thus means he set the race's fastest lap with a lap of 1:58.570 despite finishing 4th.

[edit] Grand Prix motorcycle racing career

[edit] By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125 cc	2003-Present	2003 JPN	2005 GBR	2005 TUR	78	2	4	0	1	262	0
Total	2003-Present				78	2	4	0	1	262

[edit] By seasons and teams

Season	Class	Team	Moto	Races	Wins	Podiums	Fastest Laps	Pts	Position
2003	125cc	Freesoul Racing Team	Aprilia	10	0	0	0	5	28th
2003	125cc	MetaSystem Rg Service	Honda	5	0	0	0	0	28th #
2004	125cc	Globet. com Racing	Aprilia	14	0	0	0	41	18th
2005	125cc	Kopron Racing World	Honda	16	1	2	0	104	11th
2006	125cc	FFM Honda GP 125	Honda	14	0	0	0	8	25th
2007	125cc	Kopron Team Scot	Honda	15	0	0	0	42	17th
2008	125cc	Ajo Motorsport	Derbi	6	1	2	1	87	2nd *
Total				78	2	4	1	262