Franco and his team, the Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team, arrive for their home Grand Prix in a very good position with a 58-point lead in the independent team standings (with a maximum of 90 points to be scored in the following two races), while Fabio Quartararo is 22 points ahead in the independent drivers' standings, with 50 points to hand out for this race at Sepang and the end of the season at Valencia.
The very first Malaysian MotoGP team will be on the Sepang track to mark the 20th anniversary of the organization of a MotoGP round at this circuit, with a sold-out audience expected. The Malaysian Grand Prix was previously held on the Johor circuit, then from 1999 it moved to Sepang, with Kenny Roberts Jr (Suzuki) as the first winner in the 500 cc race ahead of Carlos Checa (Yamaha), Álex Crivillé (Honda), Mick doohan (Honda), Tadayuki Okada (Honda), Alex Barros (Honda) and Regis Laconi (Yamaha).
This week in Sepang, Franco and his teammates have heavy responsibilities, in relation to their sponsors, their team and the many Malaysian fans who support them fully. Morbidelli does not arrive in ideal conditions in Malaysia, after a not really successful Australian Grand Prix. With a strong pace all weekend despite contrasting conditions and high winds on the seaside track, he was optimistic on Sunday morning about what he could achieve when the lights went out. However, he struggled to find the pace he needed to be competitive in the race, despite having secured eleventh place (1.224 from pole position in Maverick Vinales) during the rescheduled qualifying session on Sunday morning. In the race, returning to 14th position at the end of the second lap, Morbidelli was able to recover a number of places before finding himself in a relatively lonely race to finish 11th. The disappointed Italian then explained that “ I was aiming for a better position on the grid, but in the morning we had a big drop in performance. This meant we didn't start the race where we hoped and couldn't improve from there. I had to manage the tires and be precise on every lap, but the pace was not there. Obviously we want to be fast again in Malaysia. »
Team Director Razlan Razali hopes a lot from this week's GP: “We are looking forward to the arrival in Sepang of many local fans ready to experience Malaysia's first team competing in MotoGP. »
Team manager Wilco Zeelenberg was also ready for this new stage, after the disappointment of Phillip Island: “ We need to put this Australian weekend behind us while learning from it, which has always been one of the goals of our first year as rookies. We share success as we share the most difficult times. Now we have a great opportunity to bounce back to the best possible location in Malaysia. »
Morbidelli's two best qualifications this season were second places on the grid achieved at Jerez and Motegi. He currently occupies tenth position in the provisional general classification, with his best race results four fifth positions achieved in Austin, Assen, Silverstone and Misano. Aged 24, he will compete in his 105th Grand Prix, after 71 in Moto2 (with the title of World Champion in 2017) and 34 in MotoGP. He won 8 Moto2 victories. His best result in MotoGP is fifth place.
According to Franco Morbidelli, “It will be a great weekend with lots of fans supporting us for the home race of Petronas and the team. It's a circuit that I really like because it's technical and interesting; it really is a complete circuit. »
“We don't expect the weather challenge to be the same as at Phillip Island, it was a particularly frustrating situation for a rider, especially as we couldn't get the bike the way I wanted it for Sunday . »
“Of course we know the race is likely to be quite exhausting with the heat and humidity, but that's why we train hard. For all the team's home support, we want a good result. »
Records to beat:
Test record: 1'59.053 by Dani Pedrosa on Repsol Honda in 2015
Lap record: 2'00.606 Jorge Lorenzo on Yamaha in 2015
Best top speed: 339 km/h for Andrea Iannone on Ducati
Provisional ranking of the World Championship:
1 Marc MÁRQUEZ–Honda 375 points
2 Andrea DOVIZIOSO–Ducati 240
3 Alex RINS–Suzuki 183
4 Maverick VIÑALES–Yamaha 176
5 Danilo PETRUCCI–Ducati 169
6 Fabio QUARTARARO–Yamaha 163
7 Valentino ROSSI–Yamaha 153
8 Jack MILLER–Ducati 141
9 Cal CRUTCHLOW–Honda 133
10 Franco MORBIDELLI–Yamaha 105
11 Pol ESPARGARÓ–KTM 89
12 Joan MIR-Suzuki 77
13 Takaaki NAKAGAMI–Honda 74
14 Aleix ESPARGARÓ–Aprilia 53
15 Francesco BAGNAIA–Ducati 50
16 Andrea IANNONE–Aprilia 43
17 Miguel OLIVEIRA–KTM 33
18 Johann ZARCO–Honda 30
19 Jorge LORENZO–Honda 23
20 Tito RABAT–Ducati 18
Photos © Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team
