MotoGP | Morbidelli, first Q2 as a Ducati rider: “There is still margin”

His adventure in Ducati didn't start in the best way, but Franco Morbidelli never gave up and is now slowly starting to reap the fruits of his hard work. In his third race aboard the Desmosedici GP24, the Roman gained direct access to Q2 on Friday, a significant test of strength, considering his background is practically zero with the new bike.

“It was a positive day,” says Morbidelli at the end of Friday's COTA, which saw him take seventh position. The Italian is just over seven tenths behind his teammate and leader of free practice (and the championship), an important gap but one that has already narrowed by the third race weekend. “We were able to find ourselves in the top positions throughout the day, especially in the time attack. It was very positive, I'm happy, the team deserves it and we will continue to work to try to improve.”

The result is even more significant if we consider that the Pramac rider spent the winter recovering from the injury he suffered during training in Portimao with the Panigale V4R, which prevented him from carrying out the entire pre-season as a spectator at the tests . In fact, Morbidelli began to get to know his new bike at the start of the season, “living from day to day” and working in the short time at the weekend while his colleagues already had a starting point: “I have no experience or kilometers on the motorcycle”.

“If you think that in a race you do a maximum of 25 laps, while in a test day you do even 100. I missed five of these 100-lap days, which would have helped me get used to my new bike. I had to use the 20 lap days to adapt, plus the race. We live from day to day, but we take it slowly. It's not easy, but we're taking it in the right way and we're making steps forward until we reach the full potential of the bike, which means constantly fighting for the top positions”, continues the Roman speaking about the work in the Pramac garage.

Despite the short time he has had so far, the adaptation to the Ducati seems good and Morbidelli is now fully in the “Red” perspective, leaving behind his past in blue: “I forgot the feeling I had with the Yamaha. I'm just riding this new Ducati and trying to make the most of it. There is still margin and we need to improve, but we have already made some steps forward.”