MotoGp, Morbidelli "A new life begins, I don't want to disappoint Valentino"

MotoGp, Morbidelli "A new life begins, I don't want to disappoint Valentino"


PORTIMAO — "From today I would like to start unwinding this skein. Finally", he hopes Franco Morbidelli. He talks about the "tangle" of physical, technical and emotional accidents that has suffocated him in the last two years. In November 2020, he had closed an extraordinary season with a podium - precisely on this Portuguese track - in which he had been very close to the world title, won by Mir. "Frankie Soft" had triumphed in 3 gp (Misano, Aragon, Valencia), a 2nd place in Brno: with the passage to Official Yamaha had become the predestined, the most beloved pupil of Valentino Rossi intended to take its place. Instead. A knee injury, an M1 that only Quartararo he knew how to interpret bad luck and morale that slipped ever lower: in the following 2 championships, apart from a podium in Jerez, the Roman driver (now 28 years old) almost always finished outside the top 10, in the final standings even 17th ° (2021) and 19th (2022). "But that's enough for now: I'm starting over aggressively, with incredible energy inside and a great desire to redeem myself", he swears. The winter tests are comforting.

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Valentino and Uccio: "Saving Private Frankie"

Uccio Salucci, Rossi's best friend, confessed that in Tavullia he and the Doc dedicated 60% of their attention only to Morbidelli. And the rest to the other talents of the Academy (Bagnaia, Bezzecchi and Marini, among those of the MotoGp). Save Private Frankie. "Yes, the Academy is making a great effort to recover me. It's my second family, the perfect environment: the thing that gives me the most confidence right now is my performance in training with the other riders. I'm going fast, and this it makes me feel better." The new Yamaha showed signs of improvement in winter testing. "Let's say that we managed to combine a few things done well in the past years and the work of the engineers in recent months: it's a mix between the 2022 chassis and the 2023 engine".

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A new Yamaha, more powerful

Above all, the M1 lacked power. "And now we've made some progress from this point of view: I expect to be more aggressive, it was about time. The rest is a combination of things. We're trying to get back to the cornering performance of 2020, but for some mysterious reason we can't ". In a certain sense, it will be a new bike, waiting to be discovered: starting today, the first day of free practice. "It's new because we put together all the different things we liked in the 5 days of testing. We are reasonably optimistic: this could really be a good season." With the unknown sprint race. "The soft tires and the few laps to do - compared to Sunday - will further reduce the (few) differences on the track: it will be a battle. And I want to be a protagonist again".

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