Mugello, MotoGP, J1, Franco Morbidelli: “Fabio Quartararo’s second place gives me confidence”

With his tenth place on the first day of free practice, Morbidelli managed to beat Andrea Dovizioso by seven hundredths, while his teammate Fabio Quartararo once again shone the colors of the young Petronas Yamaha SRT team by seizing second position, four hundredths behind leader Bagnaia. Two rookies in the lead, it's been a long time since we've seen that in MotoGP... And the weekend is far from over!

The Italian-Brazilian Franco Morbidelli ranked tenth, half a second behind Pecco Bagnaia, for the 93rd Grand Prix of his career, after 71 in Moto2 (and a World Champion title) and 21 in MotoGP. “Francky Morbido” has won 8 races in Moto2, and his best result in MotoGP so far was a fifth place this year in Austin. He shone during qualifying this year in Jerez by taking second fastest time, which put him between his teammate "El Diablo" and the idol of the Iberian crowds Marc Márquez who was playing at home.

Morbidelli's results this year have not yet been transcendent, with fifth position in the United States and two seventh places in Spain and France. He is currently second Yamaha rider in the Championship, behind Valentino Rossi, but in front Quarterly and Vinales.

Franco arrived with strong motivation for his national GP: “ I am very happy to be at Mugello. It's always a race with a lot of emotion for me. I also feel some pressure, because I didn't have good results here, but it's always a fun Grand Prix in front of all the Italian fans. We will try to be faster than ever and achieve my best result yet. The results have been very good in the first races of the season and I am confident on the bike. I can't wait to meet all the fans and hope to have a good race ". Franco's best finish in Tuscany is his fourth place in Moto2 in 2017, the year he won all eight Grands Prix he has won so far. In the Championship, he is currently tied for seventh place with Cal Crutchlow with 34 points.

Francky, born in Rome 24 years ago, had a good Friday: “ I felt pretty good today. We had some difficulties and we didn't have the speed we hoped for, but we were able to improve throughout the day and be fast enough to get into the top ten. Our pace was not bad but, of course, we will also try to improve in this aspect. We have some things we want to try tomorrow for this. We need to continue working to improve the setup, but so far everything is going pretty well ».

Results of the first day: