Marco Bezzecchi
Franco Morbidelli is gunning for a successful season with VR46 in 2025. The Italian has moved over from Pramac after racing on the Ducati GP24 last year.
Morbidelli has been called the Lance Stroll of MotoGP as it does not seem likely he will lose his seat. The 30-year-old has the backing of VR46 owner Valentino Rossi.
The Italian finished ninth in the standings with Pramac while teammate Jorge Martin won the championship. With the Tuscany-based team moving to Yamaha, VR46 are now second-in-command at Ducati.
Morbidelli’s teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio will ride the factory GP25 alongside Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. With Ducati opting for the 2024 engine, the 30-year-old will be at a slight disadvantage.
But Morbidelli will benefit from continuity by riding the GP24 for a second year. The bike grabbed 16 out of Ducati’s 19 wins in the premier class last year.
After pre-season testing in Sepang and Buriram, last year’s bike still looks like it can be more competitive than its rivals. Morbidelli in particular stood out as a top performer.
Alessio Salucci says ‘fantastic’ Franco Morbidelli has grown more ‘professional’ over the years
The Italian became VR46’s main rider in pre-season after Di Giannantonio suffered an injury on day one in Malaysia. Pablo Nieto stopped Di Giannantonio from testing in Buriram, prioritising his fitness for the season opener.
In Diggia’s absence, Morbidelli shone. He topped the timesheets on day two in Sepang with Jack Appleyard lauding the confidence ‘oozing’ from Morbidelli – he has not been a great rider to interview in recent years due to his blunt personality.
VR46 team principal Alessio Salucci has also noticed key changes in Morbidelli. Speaking with Fabio Fagnani on his YouTube channel, Salucci has ‘discovered’ the 30-year-old rider is more ‘professional’ than his earlier years in MotoGP.
“With Franco, there is the heart. We were also talking this morning, he is someone who is a guy you can’t help but love,” he said.
“I’ve known him for a long time and so, I really like continuing to work with him even if in our team we have never had him and for me it is a great honour.
“But god, I discovered a guy who has grown a lot in these years. When I saw him at the beginning that he was very young, very fast but he had things that I didn’t like.
“I don’t hide it, I always tell him too. And instead I found a guy today, fantastic, professional one, that there is no need to say anything and as I was saying before he also brought many things to us.”
What Valentino Rossi has told VR46 to do in 2025
VR46 finished third in the standings last season behind Pramac in second. Rossi’s outfit have a great opportunity to match the Tuscany-based team’s feat with Diggia and Morbidelli on board.
The former’s injury will hold him back in the opening races but he will certainly get up to speed on the ‘GP24.9.’ Furthermore, the latter will be full of confidence after a solid pre-season.
Morbidelli says victories are ‘definitely’ possible on the GP24 this year. The Italian has not claimed a win since 2020 in Valencia – he grabbed all three of his MotoGP victories to date that year.
Nieto says Rossi has told VR46 to ‘have fun’ this season. That suggests that the team are delivering the goods on track and are set for a successful campaign.
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