For a 36-year-old rider who was on the scrapheap at one stage last year after losing his factory Ducati ride, and is on a supposedly second string Yamaha for the ex-Supersport GRT team that is entirely new to WorldSBK, qualifying ninth at Phillip Island may have been replicated in the race with no degree of shame.

As it turned out, Marco Melandri’s guile and talent took him to an eventual podium finish, but only after he got his tyres worn down a bit and lightened his fuel load.

“I knew my pace was better than the lap time,” said Melandri in comparing his one-lap prowess with his eventual race brilliance. “With a new tyre I have struggled a lot. Yesterday, and at the tests also. Today I was struggling so much but my target was to get closer to the podium guys. At the beginning of the race, with a new tyre I felt quite good, not the best, but quite good, I took a lot of time to pass van der Mark and once I did I thought I could catch the guys in front of me.

“I saw Tom was getting closer to Johnny and the Kawasaki guys, and I was sure in the end they were dropping down because the tyre is difficult to manage here. But once the fuel dropped down I felt much better and the last three laps I saw Lowes drop down quite a lot. I just tried to push in every corner - without breathing! Once I passed him he just tried to pass me back. We passed each other four times on the last lap, and it was great. For me it was so important to finish first Yamaha here.”

Winning that inter-family battle was possible partly because Melandri feels all the Yamahas are basically the same now. “I dunno, I think it is more or less the same. I think so, it is just the settings or some small things that are different.”

If Melandri has issues on fresh tyres, then he should surely be slightly concerned about a short ten-lap race on Saturday morning? Sort of.

“Also I am starting from ninth, but for sure it is not easy. I hope to get a better position for race two, and for me this is going to be important to get a good position or race two. Top five should be great. It is not easy in ten laps, but we can improve the bike a bit for sure.”

As a seasoned campaigner in WorldSBK but also every class of ‘old school’ MotoGP racing, Melandri’s perspective on ex-GP rider and now WorldSBK rider, Alvaro Bautista’s incredible race performance is maybe more valuable than some.

“I do not think they were racing with us, I never saw him” said Melandri through a smile. “Different level. I think the package is always the secret. His riding style for that bike is perfect, maybe this track is better, and the ‘wings’ here make a big effort. But it is all together.”