KUALA LUMPUR: There will be no ‘slowing down’ sign for Petronas Yamaha Sepang Racing Team rider, Francco Morbidelli as he is fully ready and looking forward to kick off the 2019 MotoGP World Championship.
Morbidelli, 24, who emerged as 2018 Rookie Of The Year is determined to keep his ball rolling as well as eyeing chances to oust other top riders.
“After last year when I finally managed to clinch the rookie of the year title, this year I switch to…I think this is a much better deal for me. So this is just the beginning, the feeling on the bike was good, lap time was quite fast and the machine was very good.
“The goal is to continue like I finished last year…keep on improving and try to oust some top guys in some races,” he told Bernama during a meet-and-greet session with local fans at Jalan Ipoh, here, yesterday.
The Italian rider who was a graduate of the VR46 Academy, which was owned and developed by nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi also aimed to make Malaysians proud as he would be the first ever rider to be riding Malaysia’s first owned MotoGP team.
“As I always say, we are taking part in a very big thing and I feel we have a lot of happiness in doing this. We feel very good so far and I feel comfortable with the team, sponsors and people in the team.
“I hope to make all the people and all the Malaysian fans proud,” he added.
In the meantime, his team-mate Fabio Quartararo – youngest rider in the premier class for this season felt honoured to be part of the team and aiming to be crowned as Rookie Of The Year at the end of the season.
“For sure I’m very proud to be on the team and my main goal is to become Rookie Of The Year,” he said.
Morbidelli and Quartararo’s first assignment would be the 2019 pre-season testing on Feb 6-8 at Sepang International Circuit before kicking off the season at Qatar GP in March. – Bernama