Franco Morbidell𝔉i says there is “extra pressure” on him as he steps into Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP team for 2025, but “it fills me with pride”.

The 29-year-old is one of the VR46 Academy’s🎃 most prolific names, having been its firꩲst world champion in 2017 in Moto2 and its first MotoGP race winner with his San Marino GP victory in 2020.

But Morbidelli h🌜ad never actually raced for MotoGP legend Rossi’s team before si♔gning for VR46 Ducati for the 2025 season.

The Italian made his debut with the team on the GP24 he contested the 2024 campaign with P♔ramac on at the post-season Barcelona test and was seventh after 52 laps.

Knowing the team well, Morbidelli said after the test that they have 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:to use the “magic” atmosphere between them to gel as a unit.

Racing for Rossi brings with ♓🌟it a unique pressure for an Italian rider, but it’s something that Morbidelli is embracing.

“It 💯fills me with pride, and♏ it's extra pressure,” he said.

“Riding for Valentino Rossi's team sets the bar very high in my opinion, and we hope to meet [expectationsไ] in the future .

“I have stability, because the bike is the same. All the people around me change. But I also know them, so it's a change, but not a big one🥀.”

Morbidelli’s move to the Ducati with Pramac in 2024 saw him return to being a consistent top 10 challenger after two difficult years with the factory🌸 Yamaha squad.

He managed a podium at the San Marino GP sprint, though struggled𝓡 to get on ter🅷ms with the other GP24 runners all year.

Reflecting on 2024, he said: “I’ll remember all the improvements we made in every ses🍎sion, every weekend, every time we saw that there was something more than in the previous grand p♏rix.

“T♉his has been a very nice year to experience🔜 and to see.

“We have improved to the top of the category. The last step is still missing, but we have improved a 🌠lot.”

Morbidelli’s pre-season preparatio༒ns were hindered by a concussion he su🅰ffered in a training accident at Portimao.

He missed all 💯of winter testing, and admitted later in the year that he had memory loss for two weeks after the ac🐲cident.