Morbidelli credits Valentino Rossi’s “gold” advice for strong Qatar start

Franco Morbidelli credited Valentino Rossi’s guidance and presence for his strong start to the Qatar MotoGP weekend, topping pre-qualifying and securing a Q2 spot.

VR46 rider Franco Morbidelli has credited seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi for helping him have a strong start to the Qatar race weekend.

The Italian rider had the best time in pre-qualifying, out-performing the dominant Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, meaning he has secured a spot in Q2.

While speaking to the media after the first day in Qatar, Morbidelli explained that his strong start was due to Rossi's presence at the event and the "gold" advice he had given him.

"I am very happy to have started the weekend like this, with Valentino here. Such a start is definitely due to his presence," Morbidelli commented.

"We talked a lot right after FP1 and just before pre-qualifying. We talked about the trajectories, how to approach the session and some of the corners. His energy is definitely a great help for the team and the riders, especially for me. His advice is gold, and I always try to put it into practice."

He continued:

"I had two good time attacks. The first lap of the second one I had to abort because there was someone off the track in Turn 2, but I was already going very strong. Then, on the second one, I was able to improve again. It was a clean day, with a clean finish to the session.

Franco Morbidelli, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

"It was definitely important to fine-tune the bike so that I felt confident with both new and used tyres. We tried to work on the set-up, trying different solutions to make sure I felt good on the fresh tyres, and we did that pretty well today. We focused a lot on speed with new tyres and did a good job."

Despite the strong start to the weekend, Morbidelli confirmed there is still work for him and the Valentino Rossi-owned team. He added:

"We have some work to do because there is quite a drop in the tyres. We will have to try to make the right changes for tomorrow. Pecco and Marc are going very strong and are very fast. We will have to check their pace well and what they did during the session. Right now I am not able to say if I can fight on equal terms with them."