Franco Morbidelli is doing better in Portimao than in Qatar aboard his Yamaha Petronas. The Italian-Brazilian will start fifth on the starting grid for the Portuguese Grand Prix. Which isn't so bad. However, the events at Losail have left their mark. Valentino Rossi's teammate is already talking about 2022, as if he had resigned himself to his fate in 2021, which he will still try to improve as best he can...
It's a strange atmosphere that seems to reign in the team Petronas. Sparkling last year with six victories in 14 rounds and lair of the vice-world champion Franco Morbidelli, he seems to have lost something since the start of this campaign. A misform that we talk about without developing it by referring to the clauses of policy of the contract, which further adds to the opacity of the situation. Morbidely, taking stock of his Saturday in the Algarve notes that it is encouraging. But the mind already seems elsewhere. And we're only in the third round of the calendar...
The former Moto2 world champion comments: “ it seems that we have managed to resolve the problems in Qatar, without wanting to get too deep into what happened in Losail. In fact, I preferred not to investigate too much the difficulties of the first two races ". The three-time MotoGP winner adds: “ I must be happy with this position in qualifying, and first of all for having found the sensations I wanted with the M1. In fact, I managed to be fast, especially on a timed lap, where I found excellent confidence ».
Morbidelli: “I try to do the best I can with what I have”
« We are working with the team to come back as strong as we were last year here in Portugal. The sensations are not those of 2020, but I'm happy. During FP4 I managed to be more competitive than in 2020. But the problem is that the Ducati and Yamaha factories are very fast, just like Suzuki " developed Morbidely. " It's difficult to overtake when you're 15 km/h slower. We'll see in the race. Quartararo certainly showed during FP4 that he has the better pace. I will try to be strong and take one more step ».
And then he lets go a little…” This situation concerns me, I make no secret of it. I'm sorry I don't have the factory bike. But I always try to stay focused on my work, trying to do the best I can with what I have. As for my future, VR46 will take care of it. I definitely want to secure the best future for myself, both technically and emotionally ". To listen to it, it's not with a Yamaha petronas that we find this cocktail still served by a Valentino Rossi as a teammate.
MotoGP Portugal J2: qualifying
Credit classification motogp.com
