Franco Morbidelli has begun experiencing some of the same problems that plagued Francesco Bagnaia all season long in MotoGP, but it’s too early to say whether they’re fundamental or just track-specific.
Two-time MotoGP champion Bagnaia suffered badly with the stability of his Ducati at Phillip Island, with a video shared by the series’ official social handle showing his Ducati shaking violently on the start/finish straight during the warm-up session.
He later crashed out of the race from 12th with four laps remaining, explaining that he lost the front end while pushing the bike beyond its limits.
Morbidelli, meanwhile, finished a distant 15th on a day his team-mate Fabio di Giannantonio finished second to race winner Raul Fernandez.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, Bagnaia revealed that Morbidelli was held up by the same stability issues in recent races as him.
“Honestly, at the start of the season, I was more or less the only one with this kind of problem. And now, Franky Morbidelli is also starting to have the same,” he explained.
“We are just trying to understand why, because if in case we riders start [to have] the same issues that can be a problem for Ducati. So we are trying to to work in a different way to find a solution.”
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Morbidelli confirmed that he and Bagnaia have faced similar difficulties at the last two rounds, but highlighted that it’s not always been the same way.
“I don’t specifically know his problems; I know his comments about the bike. In Mandalika and Australia, our problems were quite similar, but generally not,” he explained.
“In Australia, I struggled mainly with the stability of the bike. That was the issue there. I couldn’t get a stable setting that allowed me to enter the corners in the way I wanted.”
However, Morbidelli cautioned that it was too soon to draw conclusions from Mandalika and Phillip Island, noting that both circuits are outliers on the calendar.
“I don’t know [if those issues were track-specific]. You are never certain, but I never struggled in that way,” he said.
“In Mandalika, we struggled, but the tyres were different. Two very particular tracks, the last two ones. In Mandalika, we had different tyres.
“In Australia, it’s a unique track. It’s very, very nasty if you don’t have the perfect feeling or the right feeling. That was our case.
“But this one [Sepang] is more of a known kind of track.”
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Bagnaia cautiously optimistic about Malaysian GP
Despite failing to score points in three of the last four weekends, Bagnaia remains optimistic about his chances in Malaysia, citing the speed he showed in the Sepang pre-season test in February.
“I’m really looking forward to starting the weekend here. First of all, because it’s a track that I really enjoy riding,” he said. “Apart from the heat, which is a thing that I don’t suffer too much [from], the layout here is incredible.
“So I just would like to enjoy the weekend. I would like to start with a good feeling on the bike. In the test here, I was super competitive. I finished the test in second place and the feeling was good.
“So I’m ready to start. We planned the start of the weekend with good ideas. So let’s see.”
He added: “We don’t need to be too greedy; just take things with more calmness, and see session by session if we can improve, because at tracks like this that are good for us, we have more margin to try things.”
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