Franco Morbidelli will begin its second season in MotoGP this weekend. A second campaign from which he expects a lot. He will in fact be riding a Yamaha that is much more user-friendly than his old Honda. The first tests of the off-season have confirmed the good performance of equipment which will also have nothing to envy of that of its master at the VR46 academy, Valentino Rossi. However, the last laps in Qatar made him understand that there was still a way to go.
After a first year of apprenticeship, Franco Morbidelli will face his second season in MotoGP, with the strong desire to improve his results. He changed teams and bikes, moving to Petronas, who deploys two Yamaha YZR-M1s: one for him and the other for the beginner fabio quartararo.
The Italian pilot gave an interview to La Gazzetta dello Sport in which he first confirmed that the Yamaha M1 was a bike that suited his riding style: “ It suits my style better. In Valencia, I switched from the RC213V driven on Sunday to the M1 on Tuesday. I was the same driver but the results were immediately different. It was like a breath of fresh air, as if I had regained my composure. I can claim the positions I aspire to. The tests ? In the first three, I was fast on the lap time, and in the last one in Qatar, I kept a good race pace. But I had more trouble than expected with the new tires. Overall it was a positive winter. I feel ready ».
The 24-year-old rider born in Rome is optimistic for the start of the new MotoGP championship and believes he has the means to progress. However, he considers Honda and Ducati still ahead in the title fight: “ it's a motorcycle that immediately puts the rider at ease. But then, to achieve certain results, you have to work a lot. With the M1 you can win races, while for the championship I see Honda and Ducati playing it more. Yamaha still has to chase behind ».
In 2019, he will have the opportunity to race against his master Valentino Rossi, but this time on the same motorcycle. “ Maybe ! This would always mean fighting for the top positions ". After being the best rookie of the year 2018, the Italian-Brazilian driver hopes to be able to obtain a convincing result this season.
