Morbidelli And Rossi Want To Repeat Success At Jerez

Franco Morbidelli (Instagram @frankymorbido)

JAKARTA - Franco Morbidelli is eyeing his first podium at the Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit during the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend while his team-mate, Valentino Rossi, will try to make amends after failing to finish in the Portuguese GP.

Morbidelli will hope for a positive result at Portimao, where he finished P4, to equip him to reach the podium at the Spanish GP which he has never felt before.

However, Morbidelli has recorded two starts from the front row in Spain (2019-MotoGP and 2017-Moto2).

"The track at Jerez is very good and I am fast there. Last year I was very close to finishing on the podium in both races we played in Jerez, so I hope we can make it a podium this time," said Morbidelli as quoted by Antara from the official Petronas team website. Yamaha SRT, Tuesday.

"This year the competition is tougher and at a higher level, but I will try my hardest to get close to the top three and we'll just wait and see if I can reach it."

Meanwhile, Rossi has finished on the podium 13 times in the MotoGP and 500cc era, seven of which won the race.

The Italian veteran racer was last on the podium at the Spanish circuit after finishing P3 in the second race at Jerez, the Andalusian Grand Prix.

"I think Jerez is one of the circuits on the MotoGP calendar that I look forward to the most to race every year, because I have some great memories there," said Rossi.

"In fact, last year I was on the podium in the second race of the season, the Andalusian Grand Prix."

"My pace during the race in Portugal last time was good, we made a number of improvements, so we head into the fourth race of the year with more optimism than ever."

"Of course a lot of riders will be strong at Jerez, because we all really understand that, but we will try our best and see what we can do to get back to the top position where we should be."

Although the three races that have been held were wiped out by Yamaha troops, the start of the 2021 season was quite tough for The Doctor, who this year became a Yamaha satellite team racer, swapping seats with Fabio Quartararo.

Rossi struggled to get close to the top ten in two races in Qatar and failed to finish in Portugal after falling on lap 14, despite appearing fast by securing P4 in the Qatar Grand Prix qualifying round.

Quartararo topped the standings with 61 points followed by Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia who loomed in second place with a distance of 15 points, and Maverick Vinales who was 20 points adrift.