Franco Morbidelli admits it ‘fills me with excitement’ to see his future MotoGP team winning races.
After five years at Yamaha, the last two and a half at the factory Monster team, Morbidelli will switch to Pramac Ducati after losing his M1 ride to Alex Rins.
But while Yamaha is without a victory this year, leaving lead rider Fabio Quartararo just tenth in the standings, Pramac is enjoying its best-ever MotoGP season.
Jorge Martin is fighting factory Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia for the riders’ world championship, with team-mate Johann Zarco then taking his first premier-class victory at Phillip Island last weekend.
Their combined efforts also mean Pramac leads the teams’ title by a healthy 85 points over VR46, with Ducati Lenovo 108 points adrift in third.
“I was already excited enough when I understood that I was going to ride a Ducati. And then to see Pramac, my future team, winning and being the top team in the standings for sure fills me with a lot of excitement,” Morbidelli said at Buriram on Thursday.
“I have to keep it quiet and keep focused on this current situation because we still want to get good results [at Yamaha]. It’ll be beautiful to get a podium with this team and on this bike.
“I know it’s possible when you use the chances you can. We’ve seen Fabio was very good at taking the chance he got in India and Mandalika. And it will be important to take the chance that presents itself to us. We are not that far.”
With Buriram offering similar conditions, and tyre selection, to India, the Italian views the Thai weekend as a ‘good chance’.
“It’s a hot race and we have the different tyre casing. It seems that combination – different casing, hot race and not so grippy conditions – has been the key to [Yamaha] performing well in the second part of the season.
“We’ve seen Fabio making two podiums, in India and Mandalika. So it will be a chance and sincerely we were not that far from Fabio’s performances in India and Mandalika.
“But we didn’t get into Q2 directly and instead of starting 4th, we were 15th. So we will try to put everything together, make a good job. And get directly to Q2. And make a nice weekend. It will be a very, very important Friday.”
Morbidelli joked that he already has one win under his belt.
“We did the cooking contest and I won!” he said. “A great way to start the weekend, on the top step of the podium!
The weather forecasts predict rain at some stage during Friday practice.
Keyword: MotoGP Thailand: Franco Morbidelli: Seeing Pramac win, top of teams’ standings ‘fills me with excitement’