Franco Morbidelli disappoints in 2022 MotoGP season: but Yamaha sees change of crew chief not the reason, but 2022 bike
Yamaha factory rider Franco Morbidelli is experiencing arguably the most difficult season of his career to date. The Italian has only managed to finish in the top 10 in the current MotoGP season at the rainy Indonesian Grand Prix, with Morbidelli’s best result in the dry being an eleventh place at the season opener in Qatar. Why is the runner-up of the 2020 season struggling so much?
Insiders suspect it’s because of the split with crew chief Ramon Forcada. At Petronas-Yamaha, Morbidelli and Forcada formed a very powerful pairing. Although Morbidelli only received a last year’s bike from Yamaha in the 2020 season, he left all his brand colleagues behind. Only Suzuki factory rider Joan Mir had more points on his account at the end of the season.
But after that, things did not go according to plan for Morbidelli. He also started 2021 with the old Yamaha, which was by now two years old. With the 2019 M1, Morbidelli still managed to take a podium at the Grand Prix in Jerez before deciding to take time off in the summer due to a complicated knee injury.
Poor results since moving to factory team
On his comeback, Morbidelli was transferred to the factory team because Maverick Vinales had left a gap at Yamaha. From the San Marino Grand Prix onwards, Morbidelli piloted the second factory M1 – with manageable success.
Morbidelli was already struggling with the factory machine at the end of 2021. The expected step in the winter failed to materialise. With the results so far, Morbidelli does not recommend himself for another season. But he has a contract for 2023.
Yamaha team director Massimo Meregalli responds to suggestions that the split with crew chief Ramon Forcada led to the low. “I don’t think that’s the problem,” said Meregalli. “We are convinced of Patrick Primmer’s abilities,” the Yamaha manager backs Morbidelli’s current crew chief.
The character of the Yamaha M1 is causing Morbidelli difficulties
So why is Morbidelli having so much trouble? Team-mate Fabio Quartararo continues to lead the championship despite the zero in Assen and has already scored 172 points in the first eleven races of the current season. Morbidelli has 25 points and is 19th in the riders’ standings.
Yamaha Team Director Massimo Meregalli blames the development of the M1 for the problems. “Franco was already a Yamaha rider in 2020, but now he finds a bike that is different from what he had in the 2020 season,” he explains.
“Sometimes it is difficult to establish the same feeling. We try to make him understand that the 2022 bike has a different character to the bike from back then. We try to make him feel comfortable on the bike – with the staff that we provide. We are convinced that our staff are very good,” Meregalli stands behind his team.