Franco Morbidelli: “I like to destroy boundaries between me and people”

This year the last five rounds of MotoGP visited Spain (twice), Japan, Australia and Malaysia and there is only one rider from all three classes of Grand Prix that lifted a podium trophy in each race of the continent-hopping stint. 21 year old Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS star Franco Morbidelli wanders into the compact team hospitality at a sunny Valencia for the 2016 curtain closer.

Seeming very much part of the furniture, Franco is of (half) Italian stock and is a highly rated member of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy; unearthing the next generation of motorcycle racing gems. This presents a challenge for #21 to stand out from the wealth of his co-‘pupils’, countrymen and Spanish youngsters breaking lap-records in the Moto3 and Moto2 categories on the scrabble to reach the peak of MotoGP. Morbidelli has etched a curious profile however not only thanks to a sterling second half of 2016 in Moto2 where he was one of the highest points scorers (and just missed out on third spot in the championship standings, mainly due to a slow and irregular start to his maiden year with the title-winning team) but also courtesy of an exciting riding style, easy demeanour and an articulacy unusual for his profession and certainly his age group.