Mike Di Meglio

Mike Di Meglio is a French motorcycle racer and two-time world champion claiming the 2008 125cc title, as well as winning the 2017-2018 FIM Endurance World Championship. Since the 2018-2019 EWC season, Di Meglio has raced for F.C.C. TSR Honda France.

At 15 years old, Di Meglio 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.

After a disappointing 2003, he signed with Globet.com Racing 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.

Di Meglio stayed with the same team for 2005, but his team joined forces with Team Scot which runs on Honda machinery. His performance improved, scoring points regularly. He performed heroically at the French Grand Prix by fighting for a podium position, finishing fourth. However, it was his podium finish in the wet British Grand Prix finishing second, which gave him a reputation as a wet weather expert.

In 2006 he joined the Fédération Française de Motocyclisme's world championship team. 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.

For 2007, Di Meglio returned to Team Scot, the team that had helped him win his first Grand Prix in 2005. Following a bad crash during the qualifying session of the Spanish Grand Prix, he broke his collarbone and was forced to miss the Turkish Grand Prix as a result. He returned in China to finish 14th and followed that with a ninth place at Le Mans.

In 2008, he was offered to ride with the Finnish Ajo Motorsport. He returned to Aprilia machines, but officially rode for Aprilia's sister Piaggio company, Derbi. His campaign started slowly with a fourth place at Qatar. In Spain and Portugal, Di Meglio picked up minor points and trailed title contender, but in China, Corsi's pace started to slip away, which allowed 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.

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 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 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.

Di Meglio remained in the Moto2 class until 2013 and in 2014 made his premier-class debut to finish 23rd in his rookie season, staying in MotoGP in 2015 he made a slight improvement and wrapped up the year 24th.

In 2016 Di Meglio made a move to the FIM Endurance World Championship with the GMT94 Yamaha team. 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. 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.

The following season, Di Meglio remained with GMT94 going on to one win at the Bol d'Or and finished the season in 2nd place behind F.C.C. TSR Honda France.

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. 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. He achieved a 3rd place podium in the German opener, followed by a grand slam in Austria (pole, win, and fastest lap), but following subsequent retirements he finished 6th overall.

The 2020 FIM EWC year was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, but once the season was able to go ahead Di Meglio and the F.C.C. TSR Honda France team stormed to victory at the 24 Heures Motos, which was the debut endurance race for the all-new CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. At the final round of the shortened season the team finished second, to wrap up the 2019-2020 season in third place.

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