Franco Morbidelli was visibly marked by his failure during the first Grand Prix of the 2021 MotoGP season in Qatar. Since Joan Mir's journey in 2020, which has become even more like a case law as he is today the reigning World Champion, the drivers know that, in each race, they must fight for the slightest point. And never come back empty-handed. However, this is what happened to the Petronas driver who failed by only 13 points last year in the title race. A damaging white result for which he is in no way responsible. Valentino Rossi's teammate makes it known and points the finger at Yamaha with a lot of bitterness...
The 2021 MotoGP season got off to a very bad start for Franco Morbidelli. And it's an event in this campaign where he is among the favorites. He was also feared for this Qatar Grand Prix given his performances during the offseason. And then this first meeting at losail did not go as planned, with a recurring problem in terms of performance when night enveloped the layout.
An unsolved mystery until race day when a shock absorber problem made the Italian-Brazilian's race hell. The departure aid system malfunctioned and the pilot Petronas dragged himself to the finish, regretting an anonymous 18th place. And if he didn't let go of the matter before, it's like, he said, out of respect for the team and to record as much data as possible in order to understand what could have happened.
Morbidelli: “I hope Yamaha will take the problem seriously”
But the placid Morbidely doesn't accept the situation though. It is even bitter and the dark mood is felt in this comment released to motogp.com : " I know that I am currently not a priority at Yamaha ". He thus reminds us that he is the only one of the four drivers in Iwata's clan to ride with an "A-Spec" and not a latest generation M1, despite his status as vice-world champion.
A situation which has not bothered him until now. During the offseason, he welcomed the support of Yamaha and bet on the optimization of its proven equipment with its chief mechanic Ramón Forcada to make a difference. Then there was this Qatar Grand Prix.
Morbidely finished : " I don't know how long they will need to fix this, but I hope they take it seriously ". So there is something of a doubt. Which will quickly be lifted or confirmed because from this Friday, things are rolling again in Losail for what this time is Doha Grand Prix.
