Franky Morbidelli endured a difficult 2021 season, with knee surgery curtailing his promotion into the factory Yamaha MotoGP team.
As the Monster Energy outfit unveiled its 2022 YZR-M1, Morbidelli remained somewhat apprehensive about the upcoming Sepang tests due to his inactivity on two wheels, despite a tough winter rehabilitation plan.
“My winter was tough just because I had to work my butt off to recover from this injury,” the Italian admitted from the Malaysian paddock. “So it was a lot of work involved in this winter - not on the bike, but a lot of work at the gym and with the physio and that stuff. I was able to do some motocross so I wasn't completely far off the bikes. I was able to ride motocross quite well. I have no problems on that so at least I did some riding.
“It wasn't that I didn't do anything and I'm jumping on the bike over here. I did some riding on the motocross, and actually I felt great but I didn't try the MotoGP and I didn't try any road bikes so that's the question mark for me today.
“I wasn't expecting for such, not a minor injury but I didn't think it was such a big deal,” he said of his summer surgery to correct the meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament of his left knee. “Apparently joints take a very long time to heal up but I work very well during this winter and I think and I hope is going to go well on the track.
“I have a point to prove to myself, I want to prove especially to myself,” the 2020 runner up explained after last year’s injury-hit season left him with just a single podium to his name.
"I want to see if I'm able to perform well again after the injury, after the things that we went through. I want to see if I'm able to bounce back. So let's see.”
With Morbidelli advancing to the factory garage, his place in the satellite team - now WithU Yamaha RNF - went to MotoGP stalwart Andrea Dovizioso. The experienced Italian brings a wealth of knowledge as well as a calm persona, with 2022 placing him on equal machinery as the younger factory duo.
“Dovi is a great rider,” Morbidelli stated of the additional assistance now available. “So experienced, very much experienced and he has a lot of things to teach us so we will try to take many things from him for sure. Also he's a great rider so he’s gonna be tough opponent on track as well.
"Dovi is really good with the media and is really good with dealing with pressure but I think I am also,” he continued. “I don't read many bad comments but if I read a bad comment I take it as, if somebody's saying that I'm doing bad in some occasion, it means that from some point of view, I am. So I take it as a motivation, I take it as a thought to improve and as a thing to improve.
“There is always room to improve and not just the people that is really close to you can tell you where to improve but also the people that is far from you, but is ready to tell you things in a really harsh way. I repeat I don't remember any bad comment or haters comment right now, but for sure there has been some and if somebody is seeing that way, it means that under some point of view, I behave that way. So I take it as a chance to grow up.”
