Ever since returning to the MotoGP world championship following major reconstructive knee surgery in mid-2021 as a Monster Energy Yamaha rider – promoted to the factory squad from then-satellite team Petronas Yamaha – 2020 title runner-up Franco Morbidelli has looked a shadow of his former self.
But, with the first ray of sunshine in a dark season appearing at last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, is the Italian-Brazilian on the verge of turning around his tenure?
Looking to be one of the strongest riders on the grid at the end of 2020 as he pushed eventual champion Joan Mir to the penultimate round, Morbidelli was able to match team-mate Fabio Quartararo’s impressive record of three wins in a season, with the satellite squad taking almost 50% of the COVID-shortened season’s total available victories.
The 2021 season didn’t start too badly either despite a disappointing opening race in Qatar caused by a malfunctioning holeshot device. When he finished on the podium at Jerez it looked like he would be able to be competitive as the year progressed despite lining up on a two-year-old satellite machine.
However, those hopes came crashing down during the French Grand Prix, where we first saw signs of his injured left knee during a practice flag-to-flag race bike swap where he collapsed in pitlane, unable to support his weight as he jumped from one machine to another.
First injured all the way back in 2015 at the same time as breaking his leg while riding motocross for training, he exacerbated the injury early in 2021. Things then got even worse for him following the German Grand Prix, when a second training injury at Valentino Rossi’s VR46 flat track ranch saw him forced to undergo major surgery to repair his injured meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament.
Potentially facing as long as six months out of the sport, Morbidelli was eventually able to return to action (now as a factory rider following the unexpected defection of Maverick Vinales from Yamaha’s factory team to Aprilia) at his home race in Misano in mid-September .
Since then, though, his form has been far from the race-winning pace that he demonstrated in 2020, with a best result of the seventh coming only in wet conditions earlier this year in Indonesia – and with his best results in dry conditions outside the top 10
Recently, though, there’s been faint glimmers of improving pace from the 27-year-old, delivering occasional strong performances in practice sessions and demonstrating decent race pace, albeit completely stymied by his qualifying positions thanks to a seemingly complete inability to take the maximum from soft tyres.
That improvement took another step forward in Sepang, though, with his seventh place on the grid by far the best qualifying performance of the year and his first time starting on the front three rows of the grid this season.
However, with a double long lap penalty to serve in Sunday’s race for a second infraction this season of cruising on the racing line, it was never going to be the day to finally return to competitive results, especially after another penalty in the final seconds of the race for contact with Aleix Espargaro as he tried to overtake him for 10th.
But, nonetheless able to cut back through the field at a circuit traditionally seen as unfriendly to Yamaha’s M1, it means that there’s plenty to be positive about going ahead – even if he’s insistent that it’s not something that’s happened all at once.
“It was an eventful, interesting, good race and I’m happy about it,” he enthused afterwards. “I’m happy with our pace all weekend and I’m happy with the start that I got.
“It definitely looks like a click, but it’s not. It’s something that we’ve been working on for a lot of time. This f****** qualifying! With new tires I’ve been struggling so much, but we started the weekend with a small change on the bike that gave me this feeling, and this allowed me to make the bike work, and to be really quick and fast in the corners.
“There are many positive things about this weekend, and we will take them. I’m not in play for anything in the championship. If I have anything to keep an eye on, it’s next year, even more so with two long lap penalties!”
Whether he can truly deliver on that performance remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure: if he can back it up again in the final race of the year at Valencia next weekend it’ll be a good way for him to head into the winter break, especially with the promise of an upgraded M1 that’s set to address the top speed issues that have been so far the biggest issue that the team has faced.
“I’m really looking forward to Valencia,” he added, “to see if the improvements we’ve made here and the level we were able to maintain here in every session and every condition [remains]. I’m looking forward to seeing if that is there.
“I cannot be certain about the future. I cannot. But I can be really hopeful and I can trust in the level that I was able to have this weekend, which looked really good and consistent and quick. The usual Frankie!”