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Being a works rider, now that's got to be one of the best jobs in the world, hasn't it?

For the single young man travelling the world, there are the machines, the money, the women - and all the other trappings.

The job itself is pretty glamorous: riding some of the best circuits in the world is always going to be a set of experiences probably not bettered by doing a shift in a shop, or being shouted at by an aggressive chef in a hot kitchen.

So how bad must it be before a MotoGP rider starts thinking about packing it all in and walking away from the top-flight life?

I ask because recently Marco Melandri has been opening his heart for an emotional outpouring on his blog. More specifically, the former world champion gives us a peek into his state of mind whilst contesting the second factory Ducati in the 2008 MotoGP championship.

In the blog he says: "The 2008 season is over. It has been a year in which I have had to learn from my disappointments and I don't look back with regret because I reached a big turning point in my life in June.

"It was a really hard time and to be honest I even considered walking away from it all."

Which is a pretty big statement to make. Not only because for the first time in a long time we get to see just how miserable things can actually get inside a factory team (at least, from the rider's point of view) but also because it shows that in just one season, effectively half a season actually, a rider's career can go from great fun to the depths of depression.

His year on the Ducati was miserable, no doubt about it: outshone by team-mate Casey Stoner, Marco couldn't get to grips with the unique motorcycle and suffered. There were many who said he was unlucky in 2008.

He wasn't unlucky, he just didn't get on with the bike and plunged into a downward spiral where, mentally, he beat himself up far worse than anyone else could.

I hate it when people say riders are lucky because of the season they've had or what they do for a living. Outside of what happens during a crash, there is no luck in racing. Nobody wanders into a small town and at random picks out a young rider then invests the millions of pounds in them required to get them from domestic to world level - it doesn't happen.

The ones who appear to the outside world like they are lucky are just riders who work as hard as the next guy but click with the bike or tyres. Conversely, the ones who are appear unlucky aren't suffering because of a whim of fate, they aren't clicking for a myriad of reasons despite how much hard work they or their team puts in.

Marco may have been in a world of hurt in 2008, but he wasn't unlucky. He paid the price for a switch to a bike that didn't work for his riding style. For this coming year's racing he's switched to the Kawasaki: some are saying it'll work, some are saying it won't - but whatever the outcome the Italian won't get the results through some random element of luck.

If it does work for him in 2009, it'll be down to sheer hard work and an incredible natural ability.

Fingers crossed the demons stay away from the prodigious talent that is Marco Melandri.

Be lucky.

Tony Carter / Eurosport