Morbidelli takes ‘necessary risks’ to land second pole of 2020 season

Franco Morbidelli is setting his sights on a third MotoGP World Championship win of the 2020 season after collecting another pole position in Valencia, the ninth achieved by a Yamaha rider this season.

In a topsy turvy session interspersed with showers during the early stages, Morbidelli’s time attack in the closing stages saw him catapult to the head of the timesheets with almost half-a-second advantage over second place man Jack Miller.

Coming into the race with a slim chance of winning the 2020 MotoGP title, 45 points shy of Joan Mir out front, while Morbidelli isn’t targeting the title specifically, he says he will keep pushing for the maximum available.

“Qualifying today was a bit of a strange one because the conditions were varied and not easy. You needed to take the right amount of risk to get a good lap time, without making any mistakes, and I managed to do it. 

“I felt great with the bike so I was able to take the necessary risks, and I’m really happy. It’s been a great weekend so far and we have improved the rhythm, compared to last weekend’s race. 

“We have analysed what happened last time and been able to improve. It will be important to get a good start tomorrow, give our all and collect as many points as we can. 

“Winning is nice and of course I want to win, but we need to see what the conditions are and what happens tomorrow.

“I always aim for the maximum because I am making a momenty where I am in good shape so I can aim for the maximum, but then to get it is a different story. Let’s see how good we can be tomorrow and Portimao.”