Ramon Forcada is one of the most experienced technicians in the World Championship, in which he landed in 1986, and since then he has taken part in more than half a thousand Grands Prix. His most glorious period was at Yamaha with Jorge Lorenzo, with whom he won three titles in the premier class.
After working with Maverick Vinales for two seasons, he separated from the Spaniard in 2018, at the end of a complicated relationship that led him to join the Petronas SRT satellite team alongside Franco Morbidelli.
From the outside, the impression has always been that a special bond had been created between Franco and Ramon, with the 2020 vice-champion citing Forcada on several occasions as one of the keys to his success.
However, Morbidelli joined the Yamaha Factory Team in mid-September and was unable to bring the Spanish technician with him, who remained to work in the satellite team with Andrea Dovizioso.
Motorsport.com had the opportunity to speak exclusively with Ramon Forcada, who said quite openly that he would like to continue working alongside Morbidelli on the factory Yamaha team as well.
“Yes, of course I would have liked it,” admitted the 64-year-old, one of the paddock veterans.
“But it wasn’t even an obligation,” he added. “There are several clientelist relationships, a team that pays, a thousand favors involved and in the end it was a political issue.”
“When Valentino (Rossi) joined this team he brought many of his people with him. Now a new rider is coming (Darryn Binder) and everything is changing again, with a technical boss who comes from Moto2. If I had also left. I would have been a big mess and Yamaha doesn’t want to hurt a team that pays more for its bikes than it should, ”Forcada said to justify his stay in the satellite team.
In any case, the Japanese manufacturer and the refounded WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team have only signed for a year, which leaves Forcada in a somewhat unstable situation. “I don’t know and it doesn’t bother me,” he said about it however.
Even though Morbidelli initially asked Yamaha to continue with Forcada at his side, then he didn’t insist too much and didn’t want to force the issue. “Frankie had a contract here this year and now he’s on the factory team, so something has changed,” he said.
If the change of team was easy for Fabio Quartararo a year earlier, the same cannot be said when Morbidelli claimed Forcada.
“It’s a balance. Fabio left last year and it was very good for them, because he brought people with him, creating space for those who arrived with Rossi. If Fabio hadn’t brought some guys with him. him, those who arrived with Valentino would have created a complicated situation. Each case is different “, concluded Forcada, who will continue next year with RNF alongside Andrea Dovizioso.
Franco Morbidelli, Petronas Yamaha SRT, Ramon Ramon Forcada
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
#Forcada #admits #continue #Morbidelli