Melandri looks forward to 'home' GP

With no Britons in the top category of motorcycling, the 24-year-old represents the best alternative as a rider who lives down the road from the East Midlands circuit.

"It's sort of my home Grand Prix," the Italian, who won three races last year after finishing overall runner-up in 2005, told Reuters ahead of Sunday's eighth round of the season.

"I lived in London for two years but actually this kind of lifestyle is okay for one week but for me it was too hard to live there.

"You cannot be quiet. I like to cycle and I like to do motocross and I couldn't do this in London. So I found many friends close to Donington and I just moved there.

"Here, it's like my home Grand Prix but it's pretty quiet," added the former 250cc world champion, a previous winner at Donington. "Italy is crazy."

The Ravenna-born rider is not the only top MotoGP rider happy to trade the Mediterranean sunshine for the less alluring English weather in exchange for some peace and quiet.

Former champion Valentino Rossi has had a base in London for years while Spaniard Dani Pedrosa has also found a home in the capital to escape being constantly in the public eye in Barcelona.

He could give McLaren's Formula One championship leader Lewis Hamilton, the Briton whose success this season has triggered a surge of media interest in every aspect of his life, a tip or two.

"Lately, in Spain it has been a little bit difficult for me," Pedrosa, winner from pole position at Donington last year and currently third in the championship, told Reuters.

"I'm a little bit shy and when I come here it's like I don't have any relationship with the sport.

"I feel like I'm no one here, so this is good for me because I can do all the things I want, dress in the way I want," he added. "Nobody looks at me. I can scream in the street and no one turns back to look.

"I do the same things that I would like to do in Barcelona. But here I can be relaxed and thinking about what I'm doing, not whether this person is looking at me or I cannot do this because people will talk."