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Franco Morbidelli gave Valentino Rossi his first joy of the weekend, achieving a direct passage into Q2 with the best time in Pre-Qualifying. The weekend could not have started better for the VR46 rider, who managed to get the better of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez by putting together a great lap in his final attempt.
"I am very happy to have started the weekend like this, with Valentino here. Such a start is definitely due to his presence," Franco remarked at the end of the day. "We talked a lot right after FP1 and just before pre-qualifying. We talked about the trajectories, how to approach the session and some of the corners. His energy is definitely a great help for the team and the riders, especially for me. His advice is gold and I always try to put it into practice. If I can tell one piece of advice he gave me? Eh, no!"
The advice was Valentino's merit, but the execution was all down to the skills of Morbido, who was able to keep his concentration until the very end.
"I had two good time attacks. The first lap of the second one I had to abort because there was someone off the track in Turn 2, but I was already going very strong. Then on the second one I was able to improve again. It was a clean day, with a clean finish to the session," noted the 30-year-old, before explaining what allowed him to feel so comfortable in the time attack: "It was definitely important to fine-tune the bike so that I felt confident with both new and used tires. We tried to work on the set-up, trying different solutions to make sure I felt good on fresh tires, and we did that pretty well today. We focused a lot on speed with new tires and did a good job."
With the one lap speed sorted, there is still some progress to be made on race pace.
"We have some work to do, because there is quite a drop in the tires. We will have to try to make the right changes for tomorrow," explained Franco, who at this moment is not sure he has the potential to fight with the two riders of the official Ducati team. "Pecco and Marc are going very strong and are very fast. We will have to check their pace well and what they did during the session. Right now I am not able to say if I can fight on equal terms with them."
Although the first race of the weekend is tomorrow, the Italian-Brazilian wants to enjoy this important Friday.
"We have to be aware that it's only Friday, but it's a great day and I dedicate it to everyone in the team. This year only Alex and Marc Marquez, besides me, have finished first in a practice session. This is very positive and very reflective of the work of the team," he underlined, "In my opinion, a new phase of my career started at the beginning of the year, when I started working with this team and on the Ducati, which I now know and is always able to give a great feeling to those who ride it. All this, added to the perfect environment within the team, has definitely made a turn to my career, if we want to look at it that way."
Despite his fine performances this early in the season, Morbidelli has been somewhat left out of the limelight, but he doesn't seem bothered by the idea of finding himself playing the role of outsider.
"For me, it doesn't matter.Honestly, I'm a person who likes outsiders. I was one in 2020 and also in 2017 when I won the title. I've always been an outsider over the years because I didn't go through Moto3, but I came here from a different background. I am used to being labeled this way, but as I said before, I like outsiders and when I watch some sport I always root for them. When they win there is much more excitement," he concluded.
