MotoGP | Morbidelli: “Liberty Media has a rough diamond in its hands”

An open smile and contagious enthusiasm: this is how Franco Morbidelli welcomes us to the Prima Pramac hospitality in the Jerez de la Frontera paddock, the fourth event of the season which saw him take further steps forward aboard the Ducati. The new adventure seems to be proceeding in the right way, despite having begun amidst a thousand difficulties caused by last winter’s injury.

Without tests or kilometres, the Italian-Brazilian began adapting to the GP24 with the start of the season and the Spanish Grand Prix confirmed that both he and the team are going in the right direction. But the current MotoGP is extremely competitive and it won’t be easy to get back to the top. There are many opponents, but the challenge is even more stimulating for Morbidelli, who also tells Motorsport.com his thoughts on the scenario that opens up with the advent of Liberty Media.

First of all, how are you?
“Well! Good, good… I recovered well from the blow. I’d say we recovered our form quite quickly.”

Haste is the common denominator of this period, because even the adaptation to this Ducati seems to be going rather quickly…
“We’re starting to get fast. In Austin, for example, we went straight into Q2 and were in the top seven in all rounds. The start was tough, because we didn’t need the blow in Portimao and missing the tests certainly wasn’t something that helped us. But, thanks to the help of the whole team, of the whole team that they had and gave me the right attitude to face this kind of challenge, it seems that we are recovering quite quickly, so good!”.

Does this also lead to feeling very comfortable with the bike? It’s easy to say to go fast with the best bike on the grid, but we’ve seen that it’s not so obvious to go fast with the world champion bike.
“Indeed. The Ducati is probably the best bike on the grid or in any case, when that’s not the case, it’s the one fighting to be the best, as we saw in Austin. I am very proud of this, happy and happy to drive it. But what is encouraging is the gap from the fastest Ducatis: two or three tenths. It’s not bad, considering the few kilometers we did. This adaptation process seems to be going very well, I’m taking this speed, it’s fine like this.”

You are enjoying this first part of your Ducati adventure with the serenity that distinguishes you. Does your way of being, which always appears very calm and relaxed and perhaps also reflects your origins, help you face particular challenges with a more positive approach?
“Surely. My origins are within me in everything I do. I’m proud of where I come from, of my Brazilian half. My mother comes from deep Brazil, from the north east. I have always had this type of teaching since I was born. My mom has always been with me a lot as I grew up and she passed on a lot of this style to me. Even without realizing it. Now that I’m growing up and noticing it more, I’m more and more proud of it.”

And this also helped you in times of difficulty, I imagine. Let’s think about the knee injury of 2021 or the last one in Portimao…
“There are difficult moments in an athlete’s career and everyone faces them in the best way they believe. I think that calm, serenity is the best way to deal with both positive and negative moments. What keeps you in balance is calm, and it’s the best thing to not get too lost when things happen and to overcome them in the most appropriate way.”

It really seems like he’s overcoming all the difficulties in a big way right now. Do you feel capable of winning again or fighting for the top in a short time?
“Yes, I feel capable of winning again. In a short time I don’t know, it depends what we mean by short. But I’m trying to make this time as short as possible. I really want to win again, I have the right team and the right bike to do it.”

This year’s move was a big change and doing well wasn’t a given despite having a competitive bike. Do you think you’re proving you can anchor the game?
“I don’t have too big doubts that we will be able to do very well with the team. We just need to continue working in this way and improve, try to do the best job we can in the garage, on the track and off. Continue in this way. We started late, but well.”

This year will be tough, if we think about how many competitive opponents there are. Do you think these steps forward are even more evident considering the high level of current MotoGP?
“It’s a stellar MotoGP! There are the top 12 or 14 riders who can aspire to victory and top positions. As we have seen from these first races, there are Pecco Bagnaia, Jorge Martín, Pedro Acosta and Marc Márquez who are going very fast. But in America, for example, Maverick Viñales showed that he can go even faster. It’s a difficult MotoGP to predict, but a lot of fun. There are many contenders for top positions.”

Franco Morbidelli, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Then double race, double chance to play it, double risk. One year later, do you think there are still doubts about this format?
“From what my friends have told me, it’s very nice. So if they like it, I like it too. It is certainly more dangerous for a driver to make two starts, 40 races a year. The work and commitment of the drivers has doubled, but if the public and the people who are at home or at the track like it like it, I’m very happy. I’m glad to hear it”.

Then now comes Liberty Media…another nice change!
“Yes! Liberty will arrive… I don’t know how much it will change for us and whether we pilots will have to increase the workload further. But in any case we have seen that with Formula 1 they have done a great job from various points of view, especially in terms of communication. We’ll see what they do with us.”

So it could be a “stellar MotoGP” both in terms of talent and show! What would you like to see in a hypothetical docu-series on MotoGP?
“Who knows, maybe! In my opinion, the beauty of this sport is the races and what happens on the track. The fights that exist between the various drivers… That world that exists during the race, if it is told and developed well, not just in the top positions. But now in MotoGP there are fights of this level in the top 15 positions! I’ll give you an example: now in the back-up positions there is Fabio Quartararo, who is a world champion and one of the most brilliant riders in this category. There are a lot of things that happen in the race and this is a very nice thing about MotoGP.”

Can we say that Liberty has a clear path in this sense? There is certainly no shortage of spectacle in the current MotoGP…
“Surely. There is a diamond in the rough and the MotoGP spectacle is incredible. And I want to be there, I’d like to be in the area of ​​those who are easier and more immediate to talk about, I admit it. Let’s see if I can manage to have a chapter of the docu-series just for me.”