Franco Morbidelli had a tough few years after finishing as MotoGP runner-up in 2020. But the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team decided to sign him for 2025, and for those who were skeptical, the results are now clear.
Last season, the rider was affected by an injury that kept him out of the entire pre-season, forcing him to adapt to a new bike (the Ducati Desmosedici GP24) during the races. The improvements were evident, and at the start of 2025, Morbidelli confirmed his potential with a third-place finish in the Argentina GP, adding to his fourth-place finish in Thailand.
Uccio Salucci, VR46 team director, highlighted the importance of this podium, telling AS newspaper: ‘This podium has a very special meaning for the team, because when we thought about signing Morbidelli as our rider in March 2024, we heard a lot of criticism, saying that he didn’t deserve to be with us. So, this podium is very important for the team’.
Valentino Rossi’s right-hand man then said: ‘Franco deserves this, because he spent two years at Yamaha where everyone criticized him, and everyone thought he was finished. And he also had everything in place when he had a good bike at Yamaha. People don’t know him and criticize him, but we wanted to give him a chance, and it motivated us even more that people said he was finished’.