Newly crowned Moto2 World Champion Franco Morbidelli’s relaxed persona belies his inner drive. After clinching the title two weeks ago in Malaysia, the 22-year-old son of a Brazilian mother and an Italian father arrived in Spain for the season-ending race “feeling much lighter.”
“Now I can relax a little bit more because the main job is already done,” Morbidelli said on Thursday during a roundtable media Q&A at the Ricardo Tormo circuit. “You have to use pressure as an advantage. I will try to stay focused and win—to express my best riding.”
Last year, Johann Zarco capped his second consecutive Moto2 world title with a victory at the traditional season-ending Spanish event before making the leap to MotoGP, where he secured rookie of the year and top independent-rider honors.
Morbidelli aims to follow in Zarco's tire tracks. A graduate of Valentino Rossi's VR46 Riders Academy, he will swap his Honda CBR600RR-powered Kalex next season for a Honda RC213V in the same Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS livery.
Morbidelli is not a product of what team principal Michael Bartholemy calls, “the Marc VDS pyramid.” Rather, Morbidelli earned his early racing success on production bikes, winning the 2013 European Superstock 600 title.
“I pushed quite hard to get him in,” Bartholemy admitted. “In 2015, when I saw Franco riding, I was sure that I could make it with him. On that day in Malaysia, we said, ‘Okay, the hard work paid off.’ I’m happy to have done it with him. It was not easy.”
In fact, when Morbidelli joined the team in 2016 after recovering from a broken leg, he was “afraid” of Bartholemy. “I had to show him that he made the right choice,” he said. “I was always feeling pressure. He was very good with me, always trying to calm me down.”
Morbidelli says Moto2 is good preparation for MotoGP. “Moto2 is a tough category, especially the last three years,” he said. “Everybody had the same engine and the same bike; the only thing that was changing a little bit was the suspension and the way of working.
“I think Moto2 develops the rider a lot for riding style and working method, but MotoGP is going to be a completely different story. Maybe what works in Moto2 to preserve the tire doesn’t work in MotoGP.
“The bike will be powerful and fast and the start of a learning process,” he added. “The main thing I have to learn is the riding style. I had to adapt my riding style from streetbikes to prototypes. I don’t know anything about electronics, but I am ready to learn.”
Regarding Sunday's MotoGP title shootout, Morbidelli has mixed feelings. "I'm Italian, so I really like [Andrea] Dovizioso," he said. "If he wins, I will be happy. Also, if Honda wins, I will be happy. It would mean that the Honda is a great bike and that I'm getting the world championship bike."
At Thursday’s MotoGP pre-event press conference, Valentino Rossi was asked if Morbidelli will be as competitive next season as Zarco has been this year. The nine-time world champion chuckled, then replied, “I hope not.”