MIKE DI MEGLIO #63

Date of birth: 17/01/1988 - Toulouse (France)
Age: 21
First Race: Scooter Championship - Midi- Pirinée (11 years)
First Grand Prix: Japan Grand Prix - 2003
First victory: Turkey Grand Prix - 2005
Last victory: Australia Grand Prix - 2008
First pole position: Japan Grand Prix - 2008
First fastest lap: Italian Grand Prix - 2008
First podium: EnglandGrand Prix - 2005
Victories: 5
Podiums: 11
Poles: 2
Fastest laps: 4
Best general result: 125cc World Champion 2008
Nº of GPS appearances: 91

CAREER SO FAR

1999: Scooter Championship Midi-Pirinée 50cc - 2º
2000: Scooter French Championship 50cc - 3º
Conti Cup - 5º
2001: Conti Cup - Champion
Scooter French Championship 70cc - 3º
2002: French Championship 125cc - 3º/1º national
2003:125cc World Championship - 28º (Honda)
2004:125cc World Championship - 18º (Aprilia)
2005:125cc World Championship - 11º (Honda)
2006:125cc World Championship - 25º (Honda)
2007:125cc World Championship - 17º (Honda)
2008:125cc World Champion (Derbi)

BIOGRAPHY

Mike's earliest motorcycling memories are well beyond his own recollection, having started out on two wheels at the precocious age of three and a half. His father was a keen motocross and road racer and with a circuit just ten minutes from their house in a small town on the outskirts of Toulouse the youngster was destined for a future in motorcycle racing. Mike would spend every weekend at the track, training on his motocross bike and watching the races intently. The French youngster resisted the competitive spirit coursing through his veins until the age of eleven, when he finally entered his first road race - a round of the 'Midi-Pirinée' regional 50cc scooter championship, in which he finished second on a scooter prepared by his father. It was such an impressive debut that he decided to enter the national 50cc scooter championship as well as the Conti Cup, finishing third and fifth respectively.

Those small steps turned into giant strides as he lifted the Conti Cup crown in 2001, taking third place in the national 70cc championship and earning himself an invitation to compete in the 125cc French Championship with the Challenge del Porvenir team.

His first season on a 125cc machine saw him finish third overall in the national series, the highest ranked home rider, despite his young age and inexperience. Such raw talent did not go ignored and former Grand Prix racer Olivier Liegeois offered him the chance to try Masao Azuma's GP bike at the Carol racetrack in Paris. Liegeois was impressed by Di Meglio and loaned him a bike to contest the final round of the CEV (125cc Spanish Championship) at Valencia, where he repaid the Belgian's faith with a sensational podium position.

The result catapulted the youngster onto the international scene and, under the guidance of Liegeois, in 2003 he contested his first full 125cc World Championship season, making his debut at the Grand Prix of Japan, on an Aprilia. His rookie campaign was anything but easy, however, with a string of bad results and crashes eventually leading to a change of team halfway through the season to Meta System.

In 2004 he was recruited by Gino Borsoi to ride for the newly-formed Globet Racing.com team but it turned out to be a rollercoaster season. He made a series of bad starts that forced him to push over the limit in the early stages of races and led to even more crashes. The highlight was an eighth place finish in Australia, when he rode with a broken foot.

Whilst the team remained the same for 2005 the name changed to Kopron Racing and the Frenchman had to adapt his riding style to a different kind of bike as they made the switch from Aprilia to Honda. It gave the youngster an early opportunity to display his versatility and he wasted little time in making an impression, clinching his first ever Grand Prix victory in Turkey and picking up another podium in torrential conditions at Donington Park.

After making such a significant step up in results that season, 2006 proved to be one to forget for Di Meglio after a disastrous move to a team set up by the French Motorcycling Federation that yielded little in the way of positive results.

Mike put the experience behind him and came back stronger for it in 2007, joining up with Scot Honda and rebuilding his reputation with an albeit sporadic return to the competitive end of the field, scoring best results of sixth and fourth at Donington and Motegi respectively.

Despite two years of relatively discreet results his talent was still apparent to Ajo Motorsport, the Finnish team providing him with a highly competitive machine in the shape of a factory Derbi. Mike responded with performances of equally high quality, ensuring that La Marseillaise rung out once more over the Grand Prix podium and paying back his sponsors several times over with the World Championship title.

Consistent form combined with stand-out victories in France, Catalunya, Germany and Australia made Mike the undoubted star of the 125cc class in 2008, lifting him to the top of the list of promising youngsters at the elite level of motorcycling racing.

His recent credentials and, above all, his future potential led to an approach from the prestigious Aspar Team, who have once again sealed the services of a current World Champion to lead their challenge for honours in 2009.

His shy, placid nature and meticulous attention to detail are in contrast with the 'French revolutionary' you see when it comes to tackling his rivals on track.

Away from racing Mike is a general sports fanatic and he enjoys spending the majority of his time with his fiancée and family.