Franco Morbidelli’s season could be quite positive, according to Pablo Nieto, who sees the Italian having some advantage especially in the first part of the season due to… having the 2024 bike.
Contrary to what usually happens with most satellite team riders who receive the most updated bikes from one year to the next, this is not the case for #21 since he had the Desmosedici GP24 at his disposal last season when riding with Pramac Racing.
The Team Manager of Valentino Rossi’s team was asked about what the team needs to do to get the best out of their new rider’s potential: ‘It’s true that he had the Ducati factory bike, and when you have it, of course, you need to get results, but he was always fighting for the top six, five, and I believe that now and with the same bike he had last year we can learn a lot and do something very good in the first part of the season.’
Now that he has moved to the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, Morbidelli will continue to have the same bike at his disposal, with the advantage that he already knows it: ‘When you have last year’s bike you always have some advantage in the first part of the season because factory bikes, new ones, require some time to be at the right point.’