This story dates back to 2007 when Fabrizio Corona who runs photo agency Coronàs, with dozens of paparazzi under his wing, tried to extort € 10,000 from MotoGP rider Marco Melandri.

Corona telephoned Melandri’s manager Alberto Vergani, who also the president of Nolan Helmets, asking him € 10,000 in order not to publish photos and videos of Melandri together with porno star Brigitta Bulgari during a private party in a discoteque on the eve of the Mugello GP.

Vergani refused to pay up and taped the conversation and when the scandal broke, because the same Corona extorted and attempted to blackmail several big named soccer players and Fiat’s Lapo Elkan with compromising photos, the enitre story came out in all it’s sordidness.

Corona was sentenced to three years and eight months of prison.

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It seems that the first part of the Kawaski/Dorna/Melandri/Hayate soap opera is ending on a positive note, because according to French website MotoCaradisiac and English website MCN are both reporting that Marco Melandri has decided to sign and continue riding for the new Hayate Racing Team.

Melandri before heading to Qatar told the media that would think about signing with Hayate only when he finished testing the 2009 ZX-RR and could assess its potential and only if the team could give him certain guarantees regarding development as Kawasaki is only committing to engines maintenance.

“Marco will race on. He has decided today that he will go on. He tested the bike in Qatar and he said the new bike was not so bad. If they can solve a problem with rear grip then he believes he can be reasonably competitive.” said Alberto Vergani, Melandri’s manager.

“He decided to race because he felt staying out of the championship for just one year was too hard. Even though the bike might not be at the highest level, for him it was best to carry on and at least try rather just sit at home. There is no alternative, so he has to try. He is aware of the situation. He knows he has to suffer a little bit. It will be a tough, tough season, but you never know. There was some encouragement in Qatar so maybe he can surprise in some races. He said the bike is better than 2008.” continued Vergani.

Melandri finished 17th during the Qatar test.

Source | motocaradisiac
and mcn

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Less than a month ago Marco Melandri said he’d “rather sit out the 2009 season that take an uncompetitve ride for the sake of it, so I will continue to train hard and keep my options open for next season.”

But when Italian website Gpone reported that Dorna’s CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta is attempting to acquire the Kawasaki machines and run them through a self-sponsored effort in 2009 in order to have at least one ZX-RR on the grid, even without the Kawasaki name on the tanks and no Michael Bartholemy running the program.

It seems that Melandri has changed his mind and if the Dorna sponsored team does run, he’ll be riding in the 2009 season.

“Ezpeleta is really trying hard, showing that he absolutely wants Melandri to start the 2009 season” said Alberto Vergani, Melandri’s manager. “You have to admit that the Spanish manager is doing everything that’s possible. Marco on his part does not want to sit out the season, he really wants to ride even if he doesn’t have big expectations. The ex-Kawasaki’s probably will not be up to date as they could have been … but you never know. You have to see things with a positive attitude.”

Source | gpone

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