Because of Fermin Aldeguer’s injury, Franco Morbidelli is currently the only satellite Ducati rider testing alongside the factory GP26 motorcycle at this week\u2019s Sepang MotoGP sessions.<\/p>\n
Usually, Ducati\u2019s satellite riders pilot a model from the previous season, which means Morbidelli and Aldeguer would be expected to use the GP25. While the GP25 was a great fit for Marc Marquez last year, it proved less successful for Francesco Bagnaia and Morbidelli\u2019s VR46 teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio. This has led to speculation that Morbidelli and Aldeguer might benefit by sticking with their more balanced GP24 machines for the final year of the 1000cc era.<\/p>\n
In a winter interview, Morbidelli\u2019s crew chief Matteo Flamini told GPOne.com that \u201cFranco will keep last year\u2019s bike.\u201d However, VR46 later clarified to crash.net that the focus isn\u2019t on the bike\u2019s model number but rather on having the best non-factory setup available.<\/p>\n
Morbidelli himself, who finished seventh overall in the Sepang test times, stated, \u201cI don\u2019t call my bike a GP25. I don\u2019t know who told me I use a GP25.\u201d When queried if it was a GP24, he replied it\u2019s more of a hybrid setup, combining features appreciated by all Ducati riders, rather than a strict GP25. He added, \u201cI think it was actually faster than last year\u2019s race weekend,\u201d and emphasized that the bike is a customized package tailored to his preferences.<\/p>\n
He explained it\u2019s unclear whether calling it a GP24, GP25, or any variation makes sense, as Ducati is a capable manufacturer providing whatever the rider wants, pending successful testing. Morbidelli stressed, \u201cMy bike is a rider-selected package that can be chosen within Ducati,\u201d and it should not be compared to the version that Bagnaia disliked last year.<\/p>\n
During testing, Morbidelli posted the second-fastest lap on day two but couldn\u2019t improve on the final day. He said, \u201cWe worked really hard trying to understand the new package and improved the fundamentals quite a bit.\u201d Although he made a mistake during his time attack, costing him some lap time, he remains positive about the bike\u2019s speed and overall feel. Still, he acknowledged there is room for improvement, noting a gap of 4.5 seconds behind Alex Marquez. Morbidelli concluded, \u201cWe will continue to work to close that gap, but overall the three days of testing were good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The last pre-season MotoGP test will take place in Buriram on February 21-22.<\/p>\n
Fan Take:<\/strong> This insight into Morbidelli\u2019s customized Ducati package shows how personalized setups are becoming crucial in MotoGP, highlighting the sport\u2019s tech evolution and the importance of rider feedback. Fans should watch closely this season, as these subtle but strategic bike choices could shake up the competition and redefine performance standards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Because of Fermin Aldeguer’s injury, Franco Morbidelli is currently the only satellite Ducati rider testing alongside the factory GP26 motorcycle at this week\u2019s Sepang MotoGP sessions. Usually, Ducati\u2019s satellite riders pilot a model from the previous season, which means Morbidelli and Aldeguer would be expected to use the GP25. While the GP25 was a great […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41650,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[2478,3744,18,543,8675,7304,544,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-41649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-racing","8":"tag-bike","9":"tag-deserves","10":"tag-formula-racing","11":"tag-franco","12":"tag-gp25","13":"tag-label","14":"tag-morbidelli","15":"tag-racing"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}