Morbidelli thinks riding old Ducati will actually ...

VR46 rider Franco Morbidelli believes working a year-old Ducati in 2025 will truly profit him within the upcoming MotoGP season.

Final yr, Morbidelli joined Pramac to journey the most effective bike on the grid, a Ducati Desmosedici of the identical specification as Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin, and higher than that of Marc Marquez’s, who used the earlier yr’s bike at Gresini.

Nevertheless, an enormous accident within the winter whereas coaching in Portimao pressured Morbidelli to overlook the 2 pre-season testing periods, and to reach on the first races with barely any mileage or adaptation to the Ducati, after 5 years of using a Yamaha.

Morbidelli completed ninth within the standings, and sixth among the many eight Ducati riders, a outcome that didn’t meet his expectations, nor these of his crew or Ducati. His former team-mate Martin gained the title with the identical bike.

Whereas some within the paddock feared that 2024 may very well be Morbidelli’s final yr within the championship, his mentor Valentino Rossi employed him for his crew for 2025.

Workforce-mate Fabio di Giannantonio will obtain the newest Ducati GP25 this yr, whereas Morbidelli will run final yr’s GP24.

The Italian rider believes that utilizing final yr’s bike may truly show to be a “small benefit” for him as he tries to regain his kind.

“For somebody like me, who has all the time discovered it too tough to adapt to new issues, maintaining the identical package deal as final yr is a optimistic side,” Morbidelli stated on the VR46 presentation final weekend.

“The very fact of not altering something will imply that I’ll have fewer unknowns than others, particularly within the first races. And it is going to be essential to attempt to make the most of that small benefit.

“I say small benefit as a result of we’re speaking about successful once more: if I need to enhance my outcomes from final yr, I’ve to battle for podiums and victories,” he added.

Requested concerning the affect that the truth that Ducati may have six bikes as an alternative of the eight items it offered lately could have, Morbidelli downplayed the affect that these two fewer bikes could have.

“For me, it isn’t going to make a giant distinction whether or not Ducati has six or eight bikes,” he stated.

“It isn’t going to have an effect on me an excessive amount of as a result of I am not seeking to end sixth, seventh or eighth. I am seeking to win, to complete second and third,” stated Morbidelli, who from Monday will participate, together with the remainder of the members of Valentino Rossi’s academy, in a coaching camp in Indonesia, with a number of observe periods on the Mandalika circuit.