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Marco Melandri is so far the only rider to have registered a MotoGP victory in Turkey, but he does not expect this to still be the case come the end of this month.

Melandri won the inaugural Turkish GP near the end of the 2005 season on his way towards clinching that year's runner-up spot and he then took his first victory of 2006 there in the third race of that season as well.

Yet the Honda rider is pessimistic about his chances of making it three in a row when he returns to race in Istanbul in just over a week's time, telling the official MotoGP website that his non-factory ride is simply not up to the task.

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He explained: "We have to improve the fine tuning of the bike a lot and this is something that is worrying me at the present time.

"I definitely can't think about winning at Istanbul, I see that as being very difficult."

The Italian recently criticised Honda on his official website for promising to put him on a par with Nicky Hayden and Dani Pedrosa but then failing to remedy problems that have afflicted his bike since the start of the season.

Having finished fourth overall last year, Melandri is unhappy with his start this time around as he failed to make the podium in either Qatar or Spain, although he still sits fifth in the rankings at present, 26 points behind current leader Valentino Rossi.

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