MotoGP: Morbidelli, Petronas SRT Continue for 2021/22

The Petronas Yamaha SRT team have announced one half of their rider line-up for the 2021 MotoGP season, although perhaps not the half that has brought so much attention since February.

Although much of the attention since Fabio Quartararo was announced to be joining the factory Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP team has been around whether Valentino Rossi will replace the Frenchman in the Malaysian-owned satellite outfit, it is Franco Morbidelli’s continuation with the team that has been first announced. 

Morbidelli made a strong season in 2019, his second in the MotoGP class, scoring a host of front row starts and seven top-six finishes on his way to tenth overall in the championship. 

Although he was overshadowed in 2019 by Quartararo, Morbidelli’s showing was strong, especially for his first year on the Yamaha after jumping ship from the temperamental Honda he rode in 2018. 

That said, it is perhaps surprising to see Morbidelli sign a two-year contract for Petronas Yamaha, considering the Italian did not make a podium finish in 2019, but team principle Razlan Razali noted “Franky has the potential to reach the top step of the podium and this is what we’ll all be working hard to achieve”. There is no doubt that this will be the target for Morbidelli in 2020, and the Italian has the potential, as he showed in his dominant run to the 2017 Moto2 World Championship. 

Morbidelli also commented on the deal, saying: “I want to thank [the team] for this opportunity that they are giving me as it’s such an honour to ride for them. I will be working hard to give them even more and even better results than we achieved in our first year together. I’m now looking forward to getting racing again to show our potential and I’m just so happy to have the chance to keep on doing what I love to do with a team I love.”

The bar set by Quartararo last season is a tough one to match, and it could yet become tougher in 2020, and regardless of who Morbidelli’s teammate is in 2021, it will be that bar against which he will be measured.