How much did pre-season concussion impact Franco Morbidelli’s 2024 MotoGP year?
Former championship runner-up talks what was possible if fully fit in 2024
Franco Morbidelli has branded 2024 “a great year” for himself and believes he could have fought for fifth in the MotoGP standings without his pre-season concussion.
The Italian joined Pramac on a works-spec GP24 for last season, but had his preparations curtailed after suffering a concussion in a training incident in Portugal in the winter.
He missed all of testing as a result, while later revealing that he suffered from memory loss in the weeks after sustaining the injury.
Morbidelli was able to line up on the grid for the first round of 2024, but struggled to adapt to the GP24 and didn’t score points until he was seventh at the French GP.
In the latter stages of the year Morbidelli became a regular top six contender and managed a sprint podium at the San Marino GP on his way to ninth in the standings - albeit 213 points behind the next GP24 of factory rider Enea Bastianini.
Without his injury woes, he believes he could have made it into the top five in the championship but no higher.
“I think I could have fought for P5 in the championship,” he said.
“Not P4, not P3. But P5, yeah, I could have fought for it.
Reflecting on the year, Morbidelli added: “Overall it was a great year for the team.
“It was a great year for me as well. I came back to fight for top spots and I’m really close to top spots.
“And I’m looking forward to making this last step to get there and catch wins and catch podiums as I would like to consistently.
“But overall it was a great year for me and for the team as well.
“We did a great comeback from the beginning of the year, from the past two years. So, it’s a positive season.”
Morbidelli steps away from the Pramac team for 2025 to race for mentor Valentino Rossi’s VR46 squad and will remain on the exact GP24 he finished the previous campaign on.
