Marco Bezzecchi
Franco Morbidelli is currently enjoying one of his best MotoGP campaigns to date, and sits fourth in the riders’ standings.
So far, his move to race for VR46 this season has paid off in spectacular fashion. He’s yet to finish lower than fourth in a race.
Morbidelli had suffered at Yamaha between 2021 and 2023 before finding a new lease of life again at Pramac last season.
He stands a good chance of claiming a victory during this MotoGP season on current form, and may only get better with every lap he gets more used to his machinery.
Alessio Salucci loves Morbidelli’s professionalism and believes that he has grown a lot in recent seasons, through multiple struggles.
However, VR46 may have an issue with Morbidelli as their two riders do not get on too well. Fabio Di Giannantonio has already clashed with his fellow countryman.
Franco Morbidelli was ‘scared’ of MotoGP return after crash during 2024 pre-season testing
Ahead of the 2024 season, Morbidelli made the big jump to switch from Yamaha machinery to Ducati after five seasons.
Not long after he got started, he suffered a concussion with a mega crash at Portimao. He returned for the season-opener, but struggled to adapt to the GP24 and had two weeks of memory loss.
He has recently admitted that the incident played havoc with his mind and left him fearing a comeback at one stage.
“I had this big injury and impact in my head, and again down in a hole, I would say this time, because that was nasty, that was pretty difficult,” he said.
“The knee was time and it’s a mechanical thing and it’s a thing that, yeah, you need to work on it. You kind of have it under control. When it’s the head involved in the matter, it’s much different. You get scared big time. At least that’s what happened to me, I got scared big time.”
READ MORE: Mat Oxley is not impressed with Franco Morbidelli’s actions with Francesco Bagnaia, ‘so hopeless’
Has Franco Morbidelli managed to overcome his biggest MotoGP struggle in 2025?
Morbidelli has always struggled with one thing in MotoGP – it takes him a long time to adapt to new bikes.
For the first time in his premier class career, it appears that 2025 may be the exception to that rule. He has hit the ground running immediately for VR46.
Whether it’s because he is gathering more experience by the day or that he has found his natural fit, he’s going to be a formidable competitor over the next 18 races.
At some stage, he should have an opportunity to secure a first victory since 2020, the year when he finished runner-up to Joan Mir.
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