Franco Morbidelli was the man of the end of the season in MotoGP, taking three victories which made him regret his accident in Austria and his technical problems during the rest of the campaign. Without these pitfalls, he could have been a more serious rival for Joan Mir in the title race. A metamorphosis for the man who we thought was definitively buried by his teammate Quartararo since last year. But on the contrary, the latter woke him up...
Franco Morbidelli will certainly have a better offseason than the one experienced last year. At that time, he had every reason to mope and brood over his defeat against a teammate who had just arrived from Moto2 and who only had one victory to his name. With her Yamaha less evolved than his own, he had managed to make people forget that his elder brother was still a former Moto2 World Champion.
The 2020 season started late and started the same way in the box Petronas, with a Frenchman dominating the Italian-Brazilian. Then the game balanced itself until it overturned. Franco Morbidelli explains how he got back into the game: “ I learned a lot from Quartararo, if I managed to raise the bar it is also thanks to him. It wasn't easy, but I knew I could do it with work ».
Morbidelli: an unwavering friendship with Rossi
In 2021, he will have a new teammate who is far from unknown: Valentino Rossi. A special relationship binds the two men. Will sharing the same box and thus being in direct confrontation harm what is a deep friendship? “ Valentino has known me since I was 12. We hide our nature as enemies on the track. At the same time there is a real friendship between me and him, without filter and I am sure that no racing event will be able to alter this relationship. ».
Morbidely ends by having a thought for a Marc Marquez, currently in a delicate situation: “ I'm sorry for Marc, for what he's going through. I think it's the most complicated moment of his career. However, I wish him to overcome it as quickly as possible and in the best possible way. I have no doubt he will be back on track as strong as we know him ". Next year, Morbidelli will still have a Yamaha M1 “A-Spec” version while the Doctor will have a state-of-the-art factory version. which, given the last few months seen at the Iwata manufacturer, is not necessarily good news...
