MotoGP | Qatar Test Day 1: Franco Morbidelli, “Excellent return to the track, special day with Rossi”

MotoGP Yamaha Petronas SRT 2021 – Franco Morbidelli returned today aboard the Team Petronas Yamaha M1 on the first day of the IRTA tests taking place in Qatar.

The #21 was the best of the Italian riders and immediately had a good feeling. From today he shares the garage with Valentino Rossi, here's what he said “Soft.”

Statements Franco Morbidelli Test Qatar Day 1

“It's been a nice day and it's nice to get back to work. I felt good, especially at the end of the tests when I started to feel really good on the saddle again, I found the sensations of last year and I think we are already at a good level. I missed the power of the MotoGP and my M1. Obviously there are things to improve, but we're not too far from the best so I'm happy with that. I'm also happy that this bike is the same but different, it looks the same as last year but we are faster in a straight line and Yamaha has brought a lot of small updates. We have some electronic updates to test tomorrow, so we'll try to improve again. It was a great return to the track!”

Franco Morbidelli statements on Valentino Rossi Test Qatar Day 1

“It's nice to have Vale (Rossi, ed.) in the garage. It was a special day for the whole Team. I spoke with "Uccio" to find out what the feeling was and he told me that Vale felt very comfortable in the Team. I am very happy with this.”

Franco Morbidelli statements on the new helmet color Test Qatar Day 1

“We kept the two flags on the helmet, the Italian one and the Brazilian one (Morbidelli is in fact Italian-Brazilian, ed.). On the side of the Italian flag there are flowers that recall Europe and Italy, while on the Brazilian side there are tropical flowers that recall Brazil. I wanted a 'soft' helmet, which brings joy and is not aggressive.”