After missing the entire pre-season, Franco Morbidelli made the most of his first MotoGP test since Valencia last November.

The new Pramac Ducati rider, who claimed his first points of the year with a surprise fourth in Saturday’s chaotic Spanish MotoGP Sprint, completed 82 laps of the Jerez circuit at Monday’s official test.

The Italian’s best lap put him an impressive third fastest, just 0.122s from Fabio di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), as he focused on set-up for his Desmosedici.

“It has been a great day,” said Morbidelli. “I am very happy to have had one full day to spend with my team.

“We did a great job; I could pay attention and time to several aspects of the bike, figuring out the best setting for me.

“I was waiting for this day, and I am really satisfied because of the work we have done, about the speed I had and the increasing feeling I had with the bike.”

Team-mate Jorge Martin, who like Morbidelli crashed out of Sunday’s grand prix, albeit while leading, was tenth fastest with 71 laps.

It was an eventful test for the Spaniard, who suffered an engine failure in the morning, leaving him with only one bike, before falling, without harm, at Turn 9 in the afternoon.

“We improved our base setup. We could have tried many things, and I am thankful for that,” Martin said.

 “I made a mistake at the end of the day when I was trying one of the [new items]; the wind affected my trajectory and so I crashed.

“In the end, my performance has been good today and I am satisfied with the job I have done, and I know we have solutions which allowed us to be fast and consistent.”

The 2025 MotoGP rider market means some riders will be worrying about their future.

Fabio Quartararo’s confirmation that he will stay for two more years at Yamaha is a major domino to fall into place.

Other teams will begin committing to riders, which will inevitably leave somebody without a seat…

Franco Morbidelli

Franco Morbidelli spent the entirety of last year fending off questions about his Yamaha future, with strong suggestions that he was set to be replaced.

He was ultimately replaced by Alex Rins and, unusually after such a poor period with Yamaha, ended up moving to Pramac Ducati which gave him the best bike on the grid.

But Morbidelli’s 2024 started off in the worst possible way, with a serious injury suffered on a training track day which robbed him of the chance to partake in MotoGP preseason testing.

Now, Morbidelli is playing catch-up with the Ducati GP24, the most coveted machine on the grid.

He finished 18th in each of the first two grands prix – but in both rounds, his priority was building his physical fitness and feeling with a bike which he wasn’t able to touch in preseason.

The problem for Morbidelli is that the ruthlessness of silly season might not wait for him to develop feeling with the Ducati.

His teammate Jorge Martin is expected to depart Pramac (for the factory team or elsewhere) while Fermin Aldeguer is guaranteed to arrive at a Ducati satellite team next year, probably with Pramac.

That’s one of Pramac’s bikes accounted for, and the other will be Martin’s if he U-turns and opts to stay.

Morbidelli, unless he can offer a reminder of his talent, could become a forgotten man.

Augusto Fernandez

Augusto Fernandez might have missed out on a MotoGP seat this season (which would have been incredibly harsh given he was the 2022 Moto2 champion, and in his rookie premier class year in 2023).

But such is the competition within KTM, Fernandez came within a whisker of missing out to Pedro Acosta.

Ultimately, KTM offered a massive show of faith in Fernandez and instead got rid of Pol Espargaro.

But that faith means the Tech3 GASGAS rider must deliver.

He does not need a reminder about KTM’s willingness to axe young riders if they find somebody better.

Already, he is lagging behind his very special and hyped-up teammate Acosta which isn’t a good look.

Fernandez finished 17th in Qatar and 11th in Portugal, where Acosta was on the podium.

The KTM is looking like the closest competitor to the Ducati in the early stages of this season which will only increase the competition for the bike that Fernandez rides.

And the arrival of the brilliant Acosta has only increased the spotlight on him.

Joan Mir

Less than four years ago Joan Mir was the MotoGP champion with Suzuki.

Still only 26, Mir has failed to establish himself among the top riders on the grid.

Suzuki’s withdrawal left him scrambling and a good move, on paper, to Repsol Honda became a nightmare.

Last year, Mir’s first with Honda alongside Marc Marquez, was so terrible that he was publicly questioning whether to retire.

Now with Luca Marini as his teammate, the Honda is still a work in progress and Mir doesn’t yet have major reason for optimism.

What is clear is that Honda are utterly determined to restore themselves to the top of MotoGP, even if it currently feels like a long way away.

Marini is contracted into 2025 so, should Honda want to plough their considerable financial backing into a new rider, it would come at the expense of Mir.

Raul Fernandez

The rebrand of Trackhouse from RNF means an exciting future – but perhaps an uncertain one for its riders.

Raul Fernandez feels particularly vulnerable in comparison to his teammate, former race winner Miguel Oliveira. Trackhouse inherited both riders when they took over the team.

The suggestion is that Trackhouse, now backed by the US-based team, might fancy an American rider.

Joe Roberts, of John Hopkins’ American Racing Moto2 team, has been talking up a move into MotoGP with Trackhouse.

Fernandez, meanwhile, has endured a drab start to 2024.

He stalled on the starting grid of the season-opener at Qatar, then also failed to finish in Portimao.

One of four riders without a point after two rounds, Fernandez knows that earning a MotoGP contract sometimes comes down to more than just performances. He will need to make a major statement in coming weeks to prevent Trackhouse going in their own direction next year.

Takaaki Nakagami

Takaaki Nakagami is no stranger to the feeling of his MotoGP berth being threatened.

Last season he was given a reprieve after Honda’s horrendous 2023.

But that might have had something to do with Ai Ogura also performing below expectation in Moto2, and failing to follow up on his runner-up finish of 2022.

Ogura, as a fellow Japanese rider, would allow Honda to maintain a rider from the country of the manufacturer’s origin in its MotoGP line-up.

Ogura has finished fourth and fifth in the first two Moto2 races of the year.

LCR Honda rider Nakagami, meanwhile, has only managed 19th and 14th in a desperate start to the MotoGP season.

He does, at least, have more points than Repsol Honda’s new signing Luca Marini after two rounds. But Marini’s future is assured after a long-term deal was handed to him.

Nakagami has no such assurances, and is already trailing behind new teammate Johann Zarco who stepped off a latest-spec Ducati last year.

Honda have majorly restructured their technical staff in a bid to improve their on-track fortunes.

They will surely be ruthless in the rider market, too, if they sense an opportunity to edge closer to the front.

Joan Mir felt as though Franco Morbidelli was too aggressive during the opening stages of Sunday’s Portimao MotoGP.

The Honda and Ducati riders made contact on the opening lap when Morbidelli attempted to overtake Mir. 

An overtake that left Mir with black leathers and part of his bike missing, Mir was not pleased by the incident.

“Morbidelli decided to finish the race earlier and then I received a contact on the first lap, at Turn 8,” said Mir. “I went completely out of the track. I was last, without any wings.

“Everything was destroyed, as well as my leathers. I don’t understand, it doesn’t make any sense at that stage of the race.”

Speaking in further detail about why Morbidelli should have been calmer and the impact it had on his RC213V machine, Mir began by saying: “On the leathers and the rear of the bike. The wind tails and all these things were gone. I didn’t have any one of them and the front wing was there but shaking a lot. Also the exhaust [was damaged].

“On the first lap I was there overtaking but I think in that position you need to stay a bit calm on the first laps.

“This is the reality because it is a big mess. There are a lot of bikes in front of you so you have to be clever. Morbidelli wasn’t so [clever] and he just came into me and hit me with a lot of speed.

“I went out of track at turn eight and my race was a little bit compromised because of this problem. 

“From then, it was honestly a decent race. I could overtake all the riders I had in front of me.

“Even struggling without the wings, in turn one and turn five. It was a shame that nobody was filming on the back because it was funny.

“We have to be happy with our race. As a rider I did everything I could. I think I did a good weekend and I think I’m in good form.

“I’m hoping in the next one that the rider in the back thinks a bit more. That would be safer for everyone.”

Despite the contact heavily impacting Mir’s race, the Spaniard felt as though Morbidelli’s crash was enough of a penalty, without handing him a further sanction.

“Well, he crashed, no? So he was penalised,” said the 2020 MotoGP champion.

“If not, yes. But because he crashed. He didn’t want to crash, he doesn’t want to crash. So this is the penalty that he got.”

Asked about the incident from his perspective, Morbidelli didn’t want to get involved, saying: “It’s part of racing. It’s part of racing when we’re in the group. I just went on the inside and from then on went wide.”

Prima Pramac Racing has become the final MotoGP team to officially present its 2024 race livery during a unique ceremony held in front of the F1 paddock at the Bahrain International Circuit, venue for this weekend’s season-opening Grand Prix.

The latest look sees the previous white background replaced by black and more (Prima) purple, alongside Ducati/Pramac red.

“It’s a big change. I’ve been in the team for three years and always we’ve been white. I think it’s better, more aggressive. Hopefully, we are also aggressive on the track,” said Pramac’s reigning title runner-up Jorge Martin. 

“2023 was a fantastic year, packed with great results and satisfaction. All that was missing was the icing on the cake right at the end, and I’ll be doing my best to make sure 2024 is even better.”

Ducati’s official satellite team reached new MotoGP highs in 2023, when Martin won four GPs, nine Sprints and challenged factory Ducati star Francesco Bagnaia for the title until the final round.

“I know I’m seen as one of the title candidates even before the season kicks off: this kind of pressure is reserved for only a few riders, and being one of them motivates me even more,” Martin said.

“I’m part of a team that has everything it takes to make a difference: the bike, the people, and the mindset. Together, we’re starting this season with the determination to take the top spot”.

Johann Zarco also took a race win as their combined efforts saw Pramac become the first satellite squad to win the teams’ world championship. With Zarco switching to LCR Honda, Martin will be joined by new team-mate Franco Morbidelli this season.

The Italian, title runner-up for Petronas Yamaha in 2020, joins Pramac after two subdued seasons at the factory Yamaha team.

However, a nasty superbike training accident, which saw him knocked unconscious at Portimao in January, has robbed Morbidelli of all five days of pre-season testing.

Morbidelli will thus start the new campaign, in neighbouring Qatar next weekend, with last November’s one-day Valencia test as his only Desmosedici knowledge.

“2024 is a turning point in my career. I’m joining a team that last year was in the running for the Riders’ Championship title right up until the last race, and took home the Team title,” Morbidelli said. “So there are all the ingredients for this to be a memorable season. 

“Unfortunately for me, 2024 started with a fall that forced me to miss the pre-season tests, but I’ve now recovered, and I can’t wait to really get to know the Ducati Desmosedici GP24 and to achieve plenty of important results with it.”

The nine-time world champion has always taken a hands-on approach with his MotoGP team, and that will continue going forward.

But that same commitment has now been shown with the recent VR46 Agency which deals with the search for sponsors and commercial partners, while also focusing on marketing consultancy in sport and market analysis. 

The VR46 Agency is partnered with Rossi’s VR46 Rider Academy, which has produced many great riders in the premier class, including two-time reigning MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia.

The majority of Rossi’s VR46 Academy contingent compete in the MotoGP world championship, as Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini and Marco Bezzecchi are also part of the system. 

The VR46 Agency, which was implemented in the recent months, has already been responsible for the arrival of title-sponsor Pertamina Enduro to Rossi’s MotoGP team. 

Leading the way as manager of the company is Gianluca Falcioni, who already works with Rossi’s VR46 Academy and looks after the interests of Bagnaia.

While racing incidents are part of the game, the penultimate Qatar round saw two examples of riders losing their temper in a practice session.

The first saw Pol Espargaro and Marco Bezzecchi cut each other up after the flag before Bezzecchi bumped Espargaro’s back wheel six times in the practice start zone.

A day later, it was Aleix Espargaro making the headlines when he lashed out and slapped Franco Morbidelli’s helmet after the pair had block passed each other several times, and run off track, for which the Aprilia rider received a 10,000 euro fine and six-place grid penalty.

“If you have more and more races in the championship, you have more chances to see these kinds of situations,” said Marc Marquez, no stranger to on-track controversy during his career.

“But in the end, if you are not involved [in it yourself], these kind of things are good for the championship! Because it creates the social media [interest].

“It’s like this now. But it’s also true that we need to take care for the image of the sport.”

Marquez had previously taken a similar view of the repeated TV replays in the immediate aftermath of Francesco Bagnaia’s scary lap one accident in Catalunya.

“For the riders, it’s very difficult to see that crash many, many times, especially when you need to go out again. But Pecco was good and Dorna had the information from the ambulance that he was good,” Marquez said.

“It’s part of the show. Maybe it’s not necessary to show it many, many times. But it’s not my decision. In my case, I turned off the TV and was fully concentrated on my job.

“But then it’s true that, for example, if you check the views on the internet from a crash compared to a race victory, it’s more views for the crash than the victory.

“So in the end, if people want to see that, the guys who produce the [TV] images must show it.

“But for the riders, it’s very difficult [to watch].”

Tempers flared between @AleixEspargaro and @FrankyMorbido12 in FP2 earlier on!

The Spaniard has been fined and handed a 6-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/0wOq1emo6x

— MotoGP (@MotoGP) November 18, 2023

Aleix: ‘Those 3-4 seconds made me look like a person I am not’

Both Qatar practice flare-ups were ultimately solved amicably between the riders involved.

“Yeah, just kids like to have fun on track!” joked Pol Espargaro. “I have a very good relationship with Bez, but people need to understand we are literally at 190 bpm heart rate, with adrenaline up in the sky and we all do stupid things sometimes.

“But if nothing goes very bad and nothing goes wrong, it’s better to step back a little bit. Just reach out a hand and move forward. Not generate more polemic.

“I really like Bez. He’s a very good guy. We are competitors, we live like each other, we all do mistakes sometimes. It’s OK. We will go for a beer tomorrow!”

The Aleix Espargaro/Morbidelli incident took longer to cool down but was resolved when the Spaniard went to see the Italian on the eve of the following Valencia round.

“It doesn’t matter if I felt that it was his fault or my fault. My reaction [the helmet slap] was completely wrong,” Aleix said. “I’m very sorry and I think those 3-4 seconds make me look like a person that I am not. I feel very bad.

“I went to his motor home. I sat on the couch with him and I said sorry to him, I apologised.”

The full thing as to why Bez gave @polespargaro a few little nudges #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/p70WVKXL4v

— MotoGP (@MotoGP) November 17, 2023

More races, more stress ‘but we have to deal with it’

While Marquez felt more races equate to a greater chance of such clashes, Espargaro pointed the finger at the extra stress generated by a bigger calendar and the high-pressure Sprint race weekend format.

“You think that what happened with my brother and Bezzecchi was normal in Qatar? For me, it was not normal. Marco is a very good guy. Pol is very good guy. But our minds arrive in a certain place, and then the fatigue makes it difficult,” Aleix said.

With two more events added to the 2024 season, meaning a record 22 GPs and 22 Sprint races, the factory Aprilia race winner added that he will, “work to understand how I can deal better with the tension in very high-tension moments to not repeat the situation.

“The seasons are longer and longer. The schedule of the weekends is more and more tight. But we are professionals, we have to deal with it and this is one of the things that I have to learn for the 2024 season.

“But it’s not a button that you can press. You are your way, I’m in my way. And how each of us reacts when you are full of tension is really difficult to control and really difficult to change.

“I’m working. And I will try. I changed quite a lot also my environment in the last two months [of the 2023 season], so I think this didn’t help also. For example, my friend Juan, who was travelling with me for the last 10 years was not with me since India.

“Hopefully for ‘24 I will be better.”

Morbidelli earlier eluded to a direct relationship between an increase in pressure on the riders and a general decrease in ‘respect’ on track, citing incidents such as riders persistently seeking a tow and hand gestures (above) if there is a perception of being held up.

“Back in the day, the ‘non-respect’ moments in MotoGP were maybe the last 3 laps of a race,” Morbidelli said. “Now that has spread throughout the whole weekend, from the first to last lap.

“This means there is a lot of pressure, and there is no respect whatsoever for the opponent. The opponent is the enemy! Grrrr! This is how it works now.”

‘Everybody is perfect on social media’

But, as Marquez indicated, a ‘harmless’ on-track incident can continue to resonate on social media long after the riders involved have buried the hatchet and moved on.

Aleix Espargaro, one of the few riders who still posts and engages with fans directly via his official accounts, said:

“Everybody with a telephone, when nobody can see them, is perfect. They are perfect humans. And I am not. So I fully accept the criticism, because I did a big mistake [with Morbidelli].

“I’m not defending my actions, it was completely wrong. But how many times [did you see this kind of thing happen] in sport… look at football.

“I know I will get again punished for this, but I don’t care what people say about me on social media. I’m lucky. I have everything that I dreamed of.

“I went to talk with Franco because I felt, from the bottom of my heart, I wanted to sit with him on the couch and give him a hug. That’s it. Not for the reaction [on social media].”

Brother Pol felt the ‘trauma’ of pushing a MotoGP bike to the limit week after week is not fully appreciated.

“I understand that in this new era of social media, where everyone can say any bullshit they want, that people like to talk.

“But I think it comes with some maturity and some intelligence that if you have not been in that situation – on a MotoGP bike at 360km/h, with this heart rate, with your adrenaline in the clouds – you cannot understand what we the riders are feeling and why we take some decisions that maybe are wrong.

“I’m not saying that what Aleix did was good or bad, or what Franco did was good or bad. I’m just saying that we all need to understand that in some moments, our situation as the riders is quite traumatic.”

An alternative take on the intensity factor was provided by Fabio Quartararo, who fought for the world championship in 2020, 2021 (winning the title) and 2022.

The Frenchman said he felt less stress, despite the punishing schedule, in 2023, since he was out of title contention early with an uncompetitive Yamaha.

But he added his situation was an exception.

“To be honest, from my side, the last 3-4 years have been much more stressful because of the result I had in the championship,” Quartararo said.

“When you’re P1, P2 in the championship the stress is much higher. Now [end of 2023] I’m playing for nothing, just trying to do my best and get the best result possible.

“Of course, you are always stressed before the start of a race. But I know that if I make a bad result it won’t change my life.

“[2022], 2021 and 2020 was much more stressful for me. So that’s why I think I’m not the right guy to ask [about the calendar increasing rider stress].”

Yamaha were winless for the first time in a MotoGP season since 2003 when neither Carlos Checa or Marco Melandri could bring the factory team success.

Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli were unable to claim a win in 2023, which followed a very disappointing end to 2022 when Quartararo was without a win in any of the remaining ten races. 

Speaking to GPOne, Meregalli said: “Without a shadow of a doubt it was the worst season since I’ve been in MotoGP. It was also a long one with sprint races and poor results. 

“Unfortunately, we realised from the beginning that the situation would be difficult and at a certain point the only thing we tried to do within the team was to not complain, but instead try to optimize what we had as much as possible.”

The cause of Yamaha’s recent struggles has been clear to Meregalli, who admitted that early season form in previous years was due to other manufacturers needing time to understand their bikes, not because of Yamaha making significant steps forward.  

“We suddenly found ourselves in this situation but we had already been improving a little for two or three years, if not four,” began Meregalli. “The problems were always the same. We won in 2021 because we started strong and our opponents had new bikes to sort out. 

“But we suffered in the second part of the championship. The same thing happened last year. We took advantage of the fact we knew our bike very well, but when our rivals found a base, we no longer had anything else. 

“We were able to hide our limits in the last two years because the others had problems at the beginning, but this season they all started strong with competitive bikes.”

Morbidelli has struggled for several MotoGP seasons following his exploits in 2020 when he finished runner-up to Joan Mir in the championship. 

A three-time winner that season, Morbidelli had more victories than any other rider except team-mate Fabio Quartararo who also won on three occasions. 

Since then Morbidelli has not won a race and only has one podium to his name.

But after stepping aboard a Ducati for the first time in his MotoGP career during last year’s post-season test at Valencia, Morbidelli’s new team manager Borsoi has high expectations.

Speaking to Speedweek, Borsoi said: “It was only a day – or a day and a half because we also saw each other on Monday. There is little time to make a judgment. 

“But he seems to me to be a fantastic guy, he has a fantastic personality. What I’ve seen so far: He seems very easy to talk to. He is very open, he listens when it comes to what he needs. 

“I believe that thanks to these characteristics we will work very well together right from the start.”

Borsoi also said that Morbidelli is eager to show everyone that he can be as competitive as ever.

“These characteristics will probably also accelerate the path he has to take in order to be competitive,” added Borsoi. “It’s a pleasure to have such a person in the pits – a rider with a sunny disposition and a strong will to show that he is still Franco Morbidelli.”