This year we started with the best of expectations and it seemed like a good season to aim high, but the Italians failed to deliver on their promise in this first half of 2021. Seven races have passed and they had to settle for four podiums, three for Bagnaia and one for Morbidelli. To be honest, a bit puny considering the expectations. All in all, this was the worst start to the season for the Azzurri, who have not clinched a win in the first seven races since 2014; however, that was an unusual year with the dominance of Marc Marquez, who won ten consecutive Grand Prix.
However, this time the hopes were much higher as seven Italians competed and two in particular were surrounded by massive expectations. All eyes were on Franco Morbidelli, the 2020 championship runner-up. It may be an absolute honorary title, but it is a sign of his competitiveness. Unfortunately, Yamaha put a spoke in the wheel and gave it the oldest motorcycle on the grid, a 2019 M1 with a few updates. You can’t say that Morbido doesn’t make an effort, in practice it is often among the best, but fighting in a race on a bike that regularly brings up the rear at top speed cannot work miracles. This puts him in tenth place overall with a little more than a third of Quartararo’s points.
The situation is different with Bagnaia, who is in one of the best teams on one of the best bikes. Pecco didn’t look bad when he arrived on the official team, showing that he knows how to handle the pressures that come with it. Three podiums is a good result, but the problem is that his brand mates did better: Miller has already won two races, Zarco is Quartararo’s closest competitor with a number of second places. The Piedmontese are quick, but they tend to overcomplicate their lives and in the end have lost less weight than they deserve. His mistake at Mugello was understandable while the weekend in Barcelona fell short of expectations. Of all of them he is certainly the one who can achieve a lot with a little more effort and in the next two races (Sachsenring and Assen) he has to show what he can do.
The situation of Italy’s national hero Valentino is more complicated. Rossi has changed teams, but no bikes, he has a factory M1, but he doesn’t get on well with one. At Le Mans and Barcelona there were some flashes of competitiveness in practice, but the races went bad, the first because of the rain, the second because of an umpteenth fall. Nobody (not even he) expects to see the good old days doctor, but here we are at an all-time low. Knowing that an old Leo always knows how to roar and maybe some surprises still await you.
The hope is that Petrucci will do the same. Danilo and KTM don’t seem to get on really well and the only joy was the bad weather in France. It is true that the Terni driver did not have the latest updates to his RC16 (the new chassis), but the performance at the beginning of 2021 is not at the level of its history. Not having signed a contract for 2022 yet may not be a destabilizing factor, but it should give him the extra boost he has not yet shown.
And the rookies: patience is the best ally in this case and no one expected sparks from Bastianini, Marini and Savadori. Even if Martin has shown that nothing is impossible. For each of them we have to wait with a mention of the merit of Lorenzo, who, having been thrown into MotoGP with no experience, does not look bad in one of the most even seasons of all time.
For everyone, the goal is to rewrite the statistics … but for the better, of course.