English
Italiano
Franco Morbidelli got back on his Ducati today, even if he only rode it for a few meters, the time to do a catwalk on the Sakhir circuit, in Bahrain, during the presentation of the Pramac team. Morbido, after the accident on the Panigale V4 at Portimao, during which he lost consciousness after violently hitting his head, had to stay away from motorbikes for the whole winter. “It's an injury that requires you to respect the times, but everything is fine now. Even though I'm still waiting for the doctors' approval to be able to say that it's all over - explains the Pramac rider - I haven't trained as usual lately, I did what I could do, in full agreement with the doctors and Carlo (Casabianca, the athletic trainer of the Riders Academy, ed.) even though physically I'm fine".
Does this mean you're still not sure if you can race in Qatar?
“Most probably I will. The medicine says that an injury like mine takes at least a month, we will see if I've recovered as much as I should have."
How will you arrive at the first race?
“It will be important to have the right approach, that is, not to look too much at what the best riders will do and at the gap, because I know I have to catch up. Achieving this in a race is difficult, but it's what I have to do and I will try to do."
Will it be a leap in the dark to jump into the fray on the Ducati after just one day of testing?
“It will be a big leap, but not in the dark. I know where I'm landing: on the best bike this is no secret and it's a great thing. It's the best situation to dive into from this distance. I will definitely encounter difficulties, I will struggle, but I don't even know how much. We are ready to work from there on. Starting from the point that nothing is impossible, I haven't made any plans and I don't have any precise expectations of when I'll be able to be fast enough to stay in the positions I want."
It helped you in some way to be at the tests in Qatar even just as a spectator.
“I learned that riding is much better than watching others do it! (laughs). As an injured rider, it was the best chance I could have had. I was able to stay with the team, talk to them and try to make up for some of the time I'm missing."
Did you have a look at the data of the other Ducati riders?
“I already did it at Valencia and I also looked at it in Qatar and Sepang. A key point will be to learn as quickly as possible, I put a spanner in the works myself, but I want to get back to good levels quickly. I have to say that all the Ducati riders are very fast."
Is there anyone similar to you in terms of riding style?
“The style for going very fast on the Ducati at the moment is one: the one that Pecco and Jorge use. My style, the one with which I won in the past, is different, but it can be good. I think that of all Di Giannantonio is the one capable of being the most fluid and fastest in the centre of the corner.”
So who will you follow?
“I would like to win again, to get podiums, and in my opinion the first step is to take inspiration from the winning riders at the moment to do it as quickly as possible. Once I get to that level, if I can add some of my old style maybe I will.”
Did Bagnaia give you any tips?
“Pecco gave me some advice, let's see if I can put it into practice on the track”.
Everyone is already starting to talk about the market: Aldeguer seems to have signed with Ducati and Pramac for 2025. How do you see the situation?
"I don’t know. It will certainly be a very lively market because there are many riders whose contracts are expiring and who are going strong. We'll see, I don't know what indications to give today."
