Franco Morbidelli
Morbidelli at the2025 Malaysian Grand Prix
Nationality	Italian
Born	(1994-12-04)4 December 1994 (age 31) Rome, Italy
Current team	Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team
Bike number	21
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2018– Manufacturers Honda (2018) Yamaha (2019–2023) Ducati (2024–) Championships 0 2025 championship position 7th (231 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 142 3 8 2 2 918 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2013–2017 Manufacturers Suter (2013) Kalex (2014–2017) Championships 1 (2017) 2017 championship position 1st (308 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 71 8 21 6 13 686

Franco Morbidelli (born 4 December 1994) is an ItalianGrand Prix motorcycle racer inMotoGP class, riding forPertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team team.^[1] He became champion in the2013 European Superstock 600 Championship, and the2017 Moto2 World Championship.^[2]

Franco Morbidelli was born in Rome to a Brazilian mother, Cristina, and an Italian father, Livio Morbidelli, the latter of whom is a former motorcycle racer, finishing runner-up in the 80 cc and 125 cc classes of the Italian national championships. Livio recognized his son's potential from a young age but did not have the resources to support a racing career. Through an old racing companionGraziano Rossi, father of 9-time world championValentino Rossi, Livio Morbidelli learned of the motorcycle training hotbed inTavullia. The family sold their home in Rome and moved to Tavullia to support Franco's race career ambitions. This training with Rossi became the precursor to what is now known as theVR46 Academy for racers, of which Morbidelli later became the first official member.^[3] Despite the common misconception, he is not related to Giancarlo Morbidelli, manufacturer of theMorbidelliGrand Prix racing bikes, or his son, former ItalianF1 driverGianni Morbidelli.^[4] In January 2013, Morbidelli's father committed suicide.^[3]

As a teen, Morbidelli was poised to enter the Spanish CEV 125cc championship, one of the main feeder series for a Grand Prix motorcycle career. However a lack of funding prevented him from entering, and he instead found a ride in theEuropean Superstock 600 championship for 2011. Staying in the series for 2012, and 2013, Morbidelli got seat at Team Italia aboard a Kawasaki, for a third season in the class in2013, ultimately winning the championship with two wins and three 2nd places.^[3]

As a result of his success in the Superstock championship, Morbidelli earned a place as a wild-card entry rider forGresini in three rounds of the Moto2 championship.^[3] He did not score any points in the three races, finishing 20th in Misano, 18th in Japan, and 17th in Valencia.

Morbidelli joined the Moto2 class full-time in2014 with the Italtrans Racing Team, and outscored his more experienced teammate and former 125cc ChampionJulián Simón, finishing with 75 points compared to Simón's 56. He stayed with the team in2015, and got his first podium, a 3rd place finish, at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. He ended the season 10th in the standings, with 90 points.

In2016, he joined theMarc VDS Racing Team, partneringÁlex Márquez. After a slow start, he finished the season strongly with five consecutive podium finishes, eight podiums in total (four 2nd places, and four 3rd places), and finished 4th in the standings, with 213 points. For 2017, he was a favourite for the title and took his first win at the opening race at Qatar accordingly. He won a total of eight races during the season, with an additional four podium finishes, as he won the2017 Moto2 World Championship with Marc VDS in the Malaysian GP, after his closest championship contenderThomas Lüthi was declared unfit for the Malaysian race, following a crash at qualifying.^[5]

Morbidelli moved up the MotoGP class in2018, still with the Marc VDS team on a Honda bike, the 2017-specHonda RC213V. He was partnered by his 2017 Moto2 title rival Thomas Lüthi, who failed to score a single point that season, on the same machinery. Morbidelli finished the season in 15th place with 50 points, four points ahead ofHafizh Syahrin on theTech3 Yamaha, thus winning rookie of the year.

For2019, as Marc VDS left the premier class, Morbidelli signed with the newly formedPetronas SRT team on a two-year deal to ride an "A-spec" satellite Yamaha alongside rookieFabio Quartararo.^[6] With 115 points, he finished 10th in the riders' championship, finishing in the top ten point scoring places regularly.

Just before the delayed start to the2020 season, Petronas SRT announced that Morbidelli had been signed on a further two-year deal, meaning he would stay with the team.^[7] In this season, Morbidelli was riding a 2019-spec Yamaha, while his team-mate Fabio Quartararo, rode a factory-spec Yamaha. In August 2020, at theAustrian Grand Prix, Morbidelli's motorcycle collided with that ofJohann Zarco while the two fought through turn 2. Despite the dramatic crash which resulted in a red flag, Morbidelli was unharmed.^[8] He achieved his first MotoGP podium at theCzech round^[9] and his first victory just three races later, at his home race inRimini.^[10] He took his second career win at theTeruel Grand Prix, setting a new track race lap record on the way, and solidifying himself as a contender for the riders' championship.^[11] At the followingEuropean Grand Prix, Morbidelli struggled in qualifying and then in the race, battling rising tire pressures, ultimately limping home in 11th, while title rivalJoan Mir took his first career win, all but extinguishing Morbidelli's title hopes.^[12] At thesecond Valencia round the following week, Morbidelli bounced back to take his second career pole position and converted it to his third career win, staving off a last lap attack fromJack Miller. Mir finished in 7th place, sufficient to clinch the championship ahead of Morbidelli.^[13] At the final round inPortugal, Morbidelli finished the season with his fifth podium of the season, to end the championship as runner-up to Mir by 13 points.

For2021, Morbidelli's teammate was the VR46 Academy ownerValentino Rossi. During the first half season, Morbidelli rode the 2020 "A-spec" Yamaha and took his first podium at Jerez, finishing third. After the German Grand Prix, Morbidelli injured his knee in a training accident and was unable to race atAssen when he was substituted by Yamaha World Superbike riderGarrett Gerloff, and theStyrian event in Austria by Yamaha factory testerCal Crutchlow.^[14][15] Morbidelli's recovery was slow and he was replaced byJake Dixon who rode Morbidelli's machine for the British Grand Prix race in August, and again at Aragón in September.^[16][17]

During Morbidelli's rehabilitation, it was announced that he would move up to the factoryYamaha Motor Racing team for the rest of 2021 (starting from Misano), and also through 2022, officially replacing the vacated seat left byMaverick Viñales who was abruptly sacked by the team in August 2021.^[18] Morbidelli’s seat at the satellite Yamaha team was taken over by Andrea Dovizioso, who returned to the sport after a racing break and some test riding with Aprilia. After Morbidelli was deemed healthy enough to race by doctors, he returned to the championship on an unfamiliar bike, after missing five race weekends. This showed in his results, finishing in the points just twice in the season's last five races, ending the year 17th in the standings, with 47 points. For the2022 MotoGP World Championship, Morbidelli was partnered by old teammate, the reigning World ChampionFabio Quartararo at the Yamaha Motor Racing team.^[19]

Morbidelli officially joinedPramac Ducati starting the2024 season. He will accompanyJorge Martín at this team who uses the latestDucati motorbike. Meanwhile, his position atMonster Energy Yamaha is known to have been replaced byÁlex Rins. The certainty of Morbidelli's move to Pramac Ducati was also confirmed afterMarco Bezzecchi's refusal to move to Pramac.^[20] In a season largely marked by his adaption to the Ducati, Morbidelli finished the 2024 campaign in 9th place, whilst taking his first sprint race podium at the San Marino Grand Prix.

For the2025 season, Morbidelli moved to thePertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, still riding with the Ducati Desmosedici GP24, where he partnersFabio Di Giannantonio.^[21]

Morbidelli is set to remain with the VR46 Racing Team alongside Di Giannantonio for the2026 season.^[22]

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position, races initalics indicate fastest lap)

(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toFranco Morbidelli.

• Franco Morbidelli at eWRC-results.com
• Franco Morbidelli at MotoGP.com
• Franco Morbidelli at WorldSBK.com
• Franco Morbidelli at theCONI honored athlete website (in Italian)
• Franco Morbidelli atAS.com (in Spanish)

• 1994 births
• Living people
• Italian people of Brazilian descent
• Italian motorcycle racers
• Moto2 World Championship riders
• Motorcycle racers from Rome
• Marc VDS Racing Team MotoGP riders
• Sepang Racing Team MotoGP riders
• MotoGP World Championship riders
• Yamaha Motor Racing MotoGP riders
• 21st-century Italian sportsmen
• Moto2 World Riders' Champions
• Pramac Racing MotoGP riders
• VR46 Racing Team MotoGP riders

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• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from August 2020
• Commons category link from Wikidata
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