Morbidelli feels 'extra pressure' riding for Rossi

Franco Morbidelli will ride in an environment more familiar than ever in 2025. A long-time member of the VR46 Riders Academy and even teammate of Valentino Rossi in the first months of the 2021 season, he had never ridden for the structure founded by his illustrious compatriot. What was almost an anomaly was corrected since it was he who was chosen by VR46 to succeed Marco Bezzecchi, who left for Aprilia.

Representing the Rossi structure in MotoGP delights Morbidelli, but he takes this mission with the utmost seriousness. “It fills me with pride and it’s an extra pressure because racing for Valentino Rossi’s team imposes standards, in my opinion, and I hope to respect them”underlined the Italian pilot.

After a first season in MotoGP on a Marc VDS Honda in 2018, Franco Morbidelli then spent five years on Yamaha, at SRT then in the official structure, but his career has lost stability in recent seasons since VR46 will be his third team in three years, after a one-year stint at Pramac.

This new change does not really worry him since he will evolve in a familiar environment, while being the only rider on the grid to keep exactly the same model from one year to the next, the Ducati in its 2024 version: “I have stability because the bike is the same. It's all the people around the bike and around me who change, but I know them too. So it's a change, but not a big one.”

However, Morbidelli believes that the already existing links with the members of VR46 will not make “not easier” his integration, but that they provide an ideal context to allow him to flourish after several campaigns below his expectations.

“I think we have something special on our hands. The knowledge we have of each other and the admiration I have for Matteo [Flamigni, son chef mécanicien] and all the people who are on the team are people I've known since I was a kid. We have this magical aspect and we have to use it in the best way in order to bond, to connect, in the best way and as quickly as possible in order to achieve what we want to achieve.”

“[Flamigni] was one of my first heroes in this sport and it's going to be an honor to work with him, that's for sure.”emphasized Morbidelli.

“Everything is in our hands”

Having the Ducati GP24, an already accomplished bike that he knows perfectly after a year on his handlebars, could bring a certain advantage to Morbidelli, particularly at the start of the season, when the most recent model may not yet be available. able to deliver its full potential.

“I aim to be fast in any situation, on any track and at any time, from the start to the end of the season. Could the GP24 have an advantage at the start of the season because it is a bike much more established? Yes. We will see if that will be the case.”

“It’s a great package, that’s all I can say”he clarified. “I don’t know what the GP25 is going to be like, it will surely be an excellent package too but we could see people doing very good things [l’an passé] with the GP23, regularly in the case of Marc [Márquez, vainqueur trois fois en 2024]. It's a very good package, with very good potential. It’s all in our hands.”

And it is perhaps because he has all the elements in hand that Morbidelli will be particularly expected at the turn. Several difficult seasons with Yamaha and a modest campaign at Pramac, with four top 5s on Sunday while his teammate Jorge Martín won the title, damaged his reputation after his runner-up place in 2020.

Morbidelli therefore hopes to appear more regularly among the leaders this year: “I always aim for everything. I will aim to do well, get good results, improve myself and improve the results of [2024] who, in the second half, were still very good. I aim to improve results and improve myself.”

With Lena Buffa