When Pertamina Enduro VR46 officially announced their lineup, Franco Morbidelli was confirmed only for the 2025 MotoGP season. However, the team’s intentions revolve around a longer-term project.
Uccio Salucci, the team director, explained to the press: ‘For me, Franco is not just for one year. His contract is very clear. For sure, he has the possibility to go to a factory team in 2026. He’s free, because this is our mentality from the Academy and our team – if a rider has some possibility to go to a factory team is free’.
Valentino Rossi’s right-hand man clarified that the ambition is for Morbidelli to have a strong season this year, building the case to secure a factory bike for 2026:
– In my mind, we are starting the project with Franco now, in 2025, and I hope he stays in our team for many, many years. My idea is to sart with Franco now with the 2024 bike, but in my head I hope Franco has a good season, and then we go to Ducati to push to have a factory bike also for Franco in 2026. This is my idea, to have a very good 2025 so we can have a factory bike for him in 2026. Franco is a project, he’s not just for one year, because recent years were not easy for him. Our goal is stay with him in 2026 with the factory bike.