Franco Morbidelli

FRANKIE CAN RELAX

Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) was crowned the 2017 FIM Moto2 World Champion with a race to spare after taking eight wins, six poles and eleven podiums to become the first Italian champion in the intermediate class since Marco Simoncelli in 2008. Morbidelli arrived in Moto2 from national and European STK600 racing with three appearances in 2013 that gained him a full-time ride for the following year. Some top ten results in the latter half of that season laid the foundations for 2015, when he scored top six results in the opening five rounds and a debut podium at Indianapolis.

Morbidelli showed his championship potential in 2016, recovering from a slow start to score eight podiums from the last eleven races, but nobody could have predicted the form he showed at the start of this campaign. Off to a flying start with a faultless win from pole in Qatar, Morbidelli scored three further wins from the next four races to establish a lead he would not relinquish. Victories at Assen and Sachsenring further cemented his position, before he crashed out of the lead at Misano. Next time out at MotorLand Aragon, the VR46 academy prospect took on compatriot Mattia Pasini (Kalex) in a stunning duel, and put everything on the line for his eighth win of the year.

'Frankie' arrived for the penultimate round at Sepang with a 29-point advantage and following a dramatic qualifying session that saw key rival Thomas Lüthi (Kalex) ruled out of action after suffering a fracture in his foot, Morbidelli’s advantage at the top was enough to declare him the champion.

PALMARES

Word title – 2017