Source: Supplied.

MotoGP race winner Marco Melandri’s anticipated Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) comeback was a good one at Phillip Island today, finishing inside the top five.

Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Melandri was fifth-fastest on Friday, which was led by teammate Chaz Davies, and is within half a second of the top time.

Melandri was one of few who were able to lower their fastest laps during the warmth of the afternoon session, eventually posting a 1m30.627s on the factory Panigale R in FP2.

“This morning, the conditions were trickier than yesterday because it was very windy on track and we had to progressively get reacquainted with the bike,” Melandri reflected. “In the afternoon however, we found the right feeling once again and the Panigale R felt really balanced overall.

“I did many laps on the same tyre, but not consecutively, so we still don’t know whether we can be as consistent as Davies and Rea over the race distance. Anyway, we tried different tyre options to figure out the best choice for the race, gathering some valuable data.

“Superpole will be extremely important, then we’ll see what strategy to adopt. I don’t have a specific goal in mind for the race, I just want to go out there and have fun, then we’ll see what comes our way.”

Melandri doesn’t have much time to get down to business in his return to racing following a full year off last season, with Superpole and race one scheduled for Saturday.