Yamaha’s shining star

■ 2020 runner-up is poised to go one better this year

Rewind 12 months and you could have counted on one hand the people who thought Franco Morbidelli would be Yamaha’s most successful rider in 2020.

But in a season laden with major upset, Morbidelli produced the biggest shock to embarrass stablemates Valentino Rossi, Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Viñales. Three wins and two podiums propelled him to second in the standings on a hand-me-down YZR-M1 that wasn’t supposed to be Yamaha’s most potent title contender on track.

But while those on the newer version floundered, Morbidelli flourished. Rather than let the frustration at being overlooked for higher-spec machinery consume him, he used it as extra motivation to make a mockery of his underdog status. A key component to his success was crew chief Ramon Forcarda, who notched up his 500th GP in Catalunya last year and has worked with Stoner, won titles with Lorenzo and taken wins with Viñales. What he doesn’t know about the YZR-M1 isn’t worth knowing and his knowledge was a powerful weapon, particularly in repeat races like Aragon and Valencia where Morbidelli went from sixth to first and 11th to first respectively. No rider/crew chief combination extracted more from their package, but they’ll need to punch above their weight again this year. Morbidelli remains on old machinery in 2021, but nobody is dismissive of his championship potential this time around.

The Italian now figures prominently in any debate about potential title candidates, but that increased pressure and expectation isn’t going to fluster Morbidelli.

To a casual observer he looks so laid-back to the point of not really caring. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Mentally and physically he’s in the best shape of his career but now he’s also armed with the self-belief that he can fight for the biggest prize in motorcycle racing.

His Petronas Yamaha SRT boss, Razlan Razali, is also confident Morbidelli can challenge, saying: “He knows what it takes to be better, he knows it’s not impossible, so I’m confident he will think about being champion this year.” An ice-cool temperament also means he’s not going to get distracted by having mentor and great friend Valentino Rossi on the opposite side of the garage.

And while he might be one of MotoGP’s most affable characters, don’t think for a nano-second that Morbidelli will let camaraderie and loyalty deflect his attention from launching another title assault.