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Losail Wednesday left a bit of a bittersweet aftertaste for Franco Morbidelli. The Petronas rider is currently outside the top ten, with a gap of over a second from the top. The gap is quite significant, even if the Roman from Tavullia prefers to look at the glass half full, also because there is a lot of work to do.
Best therefore to approach the last two days of testing with confidence, where there is no shortage of work to do inside the garage.
"Today I tried a few things - Franco said – they weren't a lot, but we had to evaluate some of the material. First of all, I’m still using the carbon swingarm, because I like it and this path we are following has given me advantages in various circumstances. I then tried some new front forks to try and find more lightness and I think I hit the target. Unfortunately, however, the sensations were worse than I imagined and consequently I will have to make some more evaluations ”.
Franco actually appeared to be a bit fatigued…
"I'm not disappointed or sad, I'm just a little tired. We knew it wouldn't be easy and as a result we have a lot of work to do for the start of the championship. I think my Yamaha is not the bike to duel or fight, but to win. I say this because my strong point with the M1 is certainly not braking, where I’m struggling. At the same time, however, I can be fast ”.
He then shifted his attention to the engine…
“Mine is a completely different specification than the other three Yamahas. I don't know technically what the differences are, although Cal said the factory engine seems more livelier and more violent. This is what I heard ”.
Morbidelli is therefore moving one step at a time, without getting caught up in all the frenzy…
“Today I only tried some material, but without being able to improve the overall package. Unfortunately, I was not able to make a step forward in terms of pure speed, while on race pace, I did. During these days of testing I did not have the opportunity to make any comparisons with other riders, as I mainly focused on myself. For sure I will need to work on braking. As for the new frame, I'm using the 2019 one, which is quite close to that of the official riders ”.
Franco is now looking toward the last two days of testing with clear ideas…
"We need to bring out a bit of pure speed, a bit of pace, especially these two things. We will have to prepare as well as possible to face the first race weekend in the best way. Then the rest is all work done looking in perspective, I’m thinking for example of the tyres ”.
Morbidelli is fully aware that Losail will put him to the test…
“For sure, doing two races on this track will be tough, because these GPs will favour the battle and bring the riders closer, while we are struggling from this point of view. The opposite is true for speed, because we can find that. However, it is not certain that we will manage to fight for the victory ”.
