Mike Di Meglio

Mike Di Meglio (born 17 January 1988) is a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and three-time world champion claiming the 2008 125cc title,[2] as well as winning the 2022 & 2017-2018 FIM Endurance World Championship. Since the 2018–19 FIM EWC season, Di Meglio has raced for F.C.C. TSR Honda France. From 2019 on, he also competes in the MotoE World Cup aboard an Energica Ego Corsa. He twice won the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in 2017 on Yamaha and in 2020 on the Honda CBR.[3] He also twice won the Bol d'Or 24-hour motorcycle endurance race on Circuit Paul Ricard. In 2017 Yamaha and 2018 Honda.

Mike Di Meglio
Di Meglio at the 2013 French Grand Prix
NationalityFrench
Born (1988-01-17) 17 January 1988[1]
Toulouse, France
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years20142015
ManufacturersAvintia, Ducati
Championships0
2015 championship position24th (8 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
36 0 0 0 0 17
Moto2 World Championship
Active years20102013
ManufacturersRSV, Suter, Tech 3, Speed Up, MZ-RE Honda, Kalex, Motobi
Championships0
2013 championship position20th (19 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
59 0 0 0 0 100
250cc World Championship
Active years2009
ManufacturersAprilia
Championships0
2009 championship position8th (107 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
16 0 2 1 0 107
125cc World Championship
Active years20032008
ManufacturersHonda, Aprilia, Derbi
Championships1 (2008)
2008 championship position1st (264 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
91 5 11 2 4 464
MotoE World Cup
Active years2019
ManufacturersEnergica
Championships0
2020 championship position4th (75 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
13 1 4 1 1 138

Di Meglio 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 between 2003 and 2015.

Early life

Di Meglio was born in Toulouse. Of Italian descent, his paternal grandfather was born in Lentini (Province of Siracusa).

Career

2003

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.

2004

After a disappointing 2003, Di Meglio vowed to salvage a wrecked debut. He signed with Globet.com Racing on Aprilia alongside 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.

2005

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 on board on a factory Honda RS125RW 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 Grand Prix ahead of future 125cc champion Thomas Lüthi. The high point of the season for the Frenchman was his controversial win at the Turkish Grand Prix, when Mika Kallio crashed and race leader Luthi had run wide to avoid him.

2006

He joined the Fédération Française de Motocyclisme's world championship team run by Alain Bronec for 2006. The FFM Honda GP 125 team also provided him with a factory bike just like the previous season, but despite his big ambitions and a factory bike, he suffered an injury, and scored in only four races that resulted in eight points. He left the team immediately for Team Scot the following year after Portugal as the result of his performance with the team.

2007

For 2007, Di Meglio returned to Team Scot, the team that had helped him win his first Grand Prix in 2005. He was teamed with the young Italian Stefano Musco. In the first few races, he managed to score championship points. He had a very bad crash during the qualifying session of the Spanish Grand Prix, breaking his collarbone and was forced to miss the Turkish Grand Prix as a result. He returned in China to a fourteenth-place finish and followed that with a ninth place at Le Mans. A front row start at Mugello did not come to much either as he crashed out on the third lap of the race. After this, several disappointing race results followed except in the wet race at Donington, where he finished in sixth place and in Japan, where he finished fourth despite crashing out of second place while chasing race leader Mattia Pasini.

2008

For 2008, 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 riding the Derbi RSA 125 factory bike. His campaign started slowly within Qatar finishing in fourth, beaten to the podium at the line by Stefan Bradl. In Spain and Portugal, Di Meglio picked up minor points and trailed title contender Simone Corsi, but starting in China, Corsi's pace started to slip away including a crash from a minor incident with Lorenzo Zanetti and reigning world champion Gábor Talmácsi struggling that allow Di Meglio to take full advantage. A win in the shortened French Grand Prix started a consistent run lasting until at San Marino where he crashed out while fighting for third place with Corsi. At the Australian Grand Prix, Di Meglio became the only second Frenchman to win the world championship after Arnaud Vincent.

2009

Mike Di Meglio at the 2009 British Grand Prix

For 2009, he moved up to the 250cc class with the Aspar Team, alongside Álvaro Bautista. In his debut race in Qatar he qualified third but dropped to 11th on lap 1, before fighting back. He ran fifth in the later stages, but aggressively passed Bautista on the final lap before passing Raffaele de Rosa for third. He did not take another top five finish until round ten at Donington, but hit form from this point on. He took pole at Indianapolis, and claimed second place at Estoril in a photo-finish with Héctor Barberá. He was fighting for top rookie honours with de Rosa but lost out to him as a result of crashing out in Valencia while de Rosa finished third.

2010

The 2010 saw the debut of the Moto2 class as the new intermediate class of Grand Prix racing, replacing the 250cc class. Di Meglio failed to take full advantage of it, with several poor race finishes in the first three races of the season and a crash at Mugello. Di Meglio took his first points-scoring finishes at British and Dutch rounds with seventh and eighth respectively. Despite his good results at those rounds, he failed to be competitive again until Australia where he finished in sixth place, having started on the front row.

2011

In 2011, Di Meglio moved to Tech3's Moto2 programme, finishing in 23rd place.

2012

In 2012, Di Meglio split his season between the Speed Up, MZ, and Kiefer Racing teams. He ultimately improved to 22nd place in the championship.

2013

Di Meglio switched to the JiR team for 2013 on Motobi-sponsored machinery. He finished the season in 20th position.

2014

Di Meglio made his premier-class debut in 2014 with Avintia Racing. He finished his rookie season in 25th place with 9 points, last of all the season regular riders.

2015

For 2015, Di Meglio was retained by Avintia, this time riding a one-year-old Ducati GP14. Despite scoring fewer points than the previous season, he made a slight improvement to finish in 24th place on the season. At the close of the season, Di Meglio was dropped by Avintia in favour of compatriot Loris Baz.

2016–2017

Following his dismissal from the MotoGP class, Di Meglio moved to endurance racing in the FIM Endurance World Championship with the successful French GMT94 Yamaha team, partnering riders Niccolò Canepa and David Checa. The team achieved wins at the 24 Heures Motos, Oschersleben 8 Hours, and 8 Hours of Slovakia Ring, leading GMT94 to their third team's championship and helping Yamaha to the manufacturer's championship. As Di Meglio did not compete in the first race of the season, the Bol d'Or, he was classified 3rd in the rider's championship behind his teammates and members of the Suzuki Endurance Racing Team.

2017–2018

The following season, Di Meglio remained with GMT94 and teammates Canepa and Checa. The team achieved one win at the Bol d'Or and ultimately finished the season in 2nd place behind F.C.C. TSR Honda France.

2018–2019

For 2018–2019, Di Meglio switched to F.C.C. TSR Honda France, replacing compatriot Alan Techer to partner Joshua Hook and Freddy Foray. They achieved wins at the Bol d'Or and Oschersleben 8 Hours, finishing the teams' and riders' championships in 2nd place behind Team SRC Kawasaki France.

2019

In late 2018, Di Meglio was confirmed to be rejoining the Grand Prix paddock as part of the inaugural MotoE season, racing for Marc VDS.[4] He achieved a third-place podium in the German opener, followed by a grand slam in Austria (pole, win, and fastest lap), but subsequent retirements and poor finishes relegated him to just 6th position at the conclusion of the season.

Career statistics

By season

Season Class Motorcycle Team Number Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh
2003 125cc Aprilia RS125R Freesoul Racing Team 63 15 0 0 0 0 5 28th
Honda RS125R MetaSystem Rg Service
2004 125cc Aprilia RS125R Globet.com Racing 63 14 0 0 0 0 41 18th
2005 125cc Honda RS125R Kopron Racing World 63 16 1 2 0 0 104 11th
2006 125cc Honda RS125R FFM Honda GP 125 63 14 0 0 0 0 8 25th
2007 125cc Honda RS125R Kopron Team Scot 63 15 0 0 0 0 42 17th
2008 125cc Derbi RSA 125 Ajo Motorsport 63 17 4 9 2 4 264 1st 1
2009 250cc Aprilia RSW 250 LE Mapfre Aspar Team 250cc 63 16 0 2 1 0 107 8th
Aprilia RSA 250
2010 Moto2 RSV Motor DR600 Mapfre Aspar Team 63 16 0 0 0 0 34 20th
Suter MMX
2011 Moto2 Tech 3 Mistral 610 Tech 3 Racing 63 17 0 0 0 0 30 23rd
2012 Moto2 Speed Up S12 Speed Master Speed Up 63 16 0 0 0 0 17 22nd
MZ-RE Honda MZ Moto2 Cresto Guide MZ Racing Team
Kalex Moto2 Kiefer Racing
2013 Moto2 Motobi TSR6 JiR 63 10 0 0 0 0 19 20th
2014 MotoGP Avintia GP14 Avintia Racing 63 18 0 0 0 0 9 25th
2015 MotoGP Ducati Desmosedici GP14 Avintia Racing 63 18 0 0 0 0 8 24th
2019 MotoE Energica Ego Corsa EG 0,0 Marc VDS 63 6 1 2 1 1 63 5th
2020 MotoE Energica Ego Corsa EG 0,0 Marc VDS 63 7 0 2 0 0 75 4th
Total 215 6 17 4 5 826 1

By class

Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
125cc 2003–2008 2003 Japan 2005 Great Britain 2005 Turkey 91 5 11 2 4 464 1
250cc 2009 2009 Qatar 2009 Qatar 16 0 2 1 0 107 0
Moto2 2010–2013 2010 Qatar 59 0 0 0 0 100 0
MotoGP 2014–2015 2014 Qatar 36 0 0 0 0 17 0
MotoE 2019–2020 2019 Germany 2019 Germany 2019 Austria 13 1 4 1 1 138 0
Total 2003–2015, 2019–2020 215 6 17 4 5 826 1

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Pos Pts
2003 125cc Aprilia JPN
22
RSA
22
SPA
28
FRA
17
ITA
Ret
CAT
13
NED
19
GBR
15
GER
Ret
CZE
15
POR 28th 5
Honda BRA
Ret
PAC
Ret
MAL
22
AUS
Ret
VAL
Ret
2004 125cc Aprilia RSA
5
SPA
Ret
FRA
Ret
ITA
Ret
CAT
8
NED
12
BRA
12
GER
Ret
GBR
15
CZE
24
POR
11
JPN
Ret
QAT MAL
17
AUS
8
VAL 18th 41
2005 125cc Honda SPA
11
POR
11
CHN
20
FRA
4
ITA
Ret
CAT
16
NED
14
GBR
2
GER
Ret
CZE
7
JPN
11
MAL
11
QAT
4
AUS
14
TUR
1
VAL
Ret
11th 104
2006 125cc Honda SPA
21
QAT
Ret
TUR
Ret
CHN
15
FRA
27
ITA
Ret
CAT
18
NED
13
GBR
16
GER CZE
13
MAL
Ret
AUS
15
JPN
Ret
POR
Ret
VAL 25th 8
2007 125cc Honda QAT
14
SPA TUR CHN
14
FRA
9
ITA
Ret
CAT
19
GBR
6
NED
Ret
GER
15
CZE
20
RSM
13
POR
16
JPN
4
AUS
14
MAL
14
VAL
23
17th 42
2008 125cc Derbi QAT
4
SPA
9
POR
7
CHN
2
FRA
1
ITA
4
CAT
1
GBR
2
NED
7
GER
1
CZE
2
RSM
Ret
IND
10
JPN
2
AUS
1
MAL
5
VAL
3
1st 264
2009 250cc Aprilia QAT
3
JPN
Ret
SPA
11
FRA
Ret
ITA
12
CAT
14
NED
11
GER
Ret
GBR
5
CZE
9
IND
4
RSM
5
POR
2
AUS
5
MAL
Ret
VAL
14
8th 107
2010 Moto2 RSV QAT
16
SPA
22
20th 34
Suter FRA
20
ITA
Ret
GBR
7
NED
8
CAT
Ret
GER
Ret
CZE
20
IND
12
RSM
Ret
ARA
13
JPN
18
MAL
26
AUS
6
POR
DNQ
VAL
26
2011 Moto2 Tech 3 QAT
19
SPA
26
POR
9
FRA
Ret
CAT
Ret
GBR
17
NED
Ret
ITA
24
GER
16
CZE
15
IND
27
RSM
16
ARA
12
JPN
27
AUS
9
MAL
14
VAL
7
23rd 30
2012 Moto2 Speed Up QAT
7
SPA
Ret
POR
Ret
FRA
Ret
CAT
Ret
GBR
18
NED
15
GER 22nd 17
MZ-RE Honda ITA
22
IND
24
CZE
16
Kalex RSM
18
ARA
13
JPN
14
MAL
Ret
AUS
14
VAL
28
2013 Moto2 Motobi QAT
16
AME
10
SPA
19
FRA
7
ITA
18
CAT
12
NED
Ret
GER
24
IND
20
CZE
Ret
GBR RSM ARA MAL AUS JPN VAL 20th 19
2014 MotoGP Avintia QAT
17
AME
18
ARG
19
SPA
Ret
FRA
19
ITA
18
CAT
Ret
NED
20
GER
22
IND
12
CZE
18
GBR
20
RSM
Ret
ARA
17
JPN
19
AUS
14
MAL
13
VAL
21
25th 9
2015 MotoGP Ducati QAT
19
AME
Ret
ARG
18
SPA
22
FRA
Ret
ITA
16
CAT
14
NED
18
GER
Ret
IND
17
CZE
18
GBR
14
RSM
13
ARA
20
JPN
15
AUS
20
MAL
18
VAL
Ret
24th 8
2019 MotoE Energica GER
3
AUT
1
RSM1
Ret
RSM2
10
VAL1
10
VAL2
6
5th 63
2020 MotoE Energica SPA
10
ANC
7
RSM
6
EMI1
Ret
EMI2
6
FRA1
2
FRA2
2
4th 75

References

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