Franco Morbidelli leaves MotoGP: from World Championship runner-up to a fresh start with Ducati

Franco Morbidelli’s MotoGP career is set to come to an end in a few weeks’ time. The VR46 team confirmed on Tuesday, ahead of the home race at Misano, that its partnership with the 31-year-old Italian will end after the 2026 season. Morbidelli will therefore be leaving MotoGP after nine years to take on a new challenge.

In 2027, the three-time MotoGP winner will move to the World Superbike Championship. There, he will take over from Nicolo Bulega at Aruba.it Ducati, whilst Bulega will in turn take Morbidelli’s place at VR46. Morbidelli will thus remain associated with Ducati, but will swap the Desmosedici GP for the Panigale V4R.

This marks the end of a MotoGP career whose highlight now lies six years in the past. Morbidelli made his debut in the premier class in 2018 as the reigning Moto2 World Champion. The year before, Valentino Rossi’s protégé had dominated the middle category and won the world title with eight victories.

Morbidelli made his MotoGP debut in 2018 with Marc VDS on a Honda. The season was uneventful, yet the Italian still came out on top in the battle for the Rookie of the Year title.

The decisive step in his career came in 2019 with his move to Petronas Yamaha. Although Morbidelli failed to secure a podium finish in his first season on the M1, he established himself among the leading group with several top-six finishes.

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11.09.2026 - 08:55

In 2020, Morbidelli fought for the World Championship title

His breakthrough came during the unusual 2020 season, marked by the coronavirus pandemic. At the Czech Grand Prix in Brno, Morbidelli stood on the MotoGP podium for the first time. A few weeks later, he secured his first victory at his home race in Misano.

MotoGP 2020: Franco Morbidelli auf der Petronas-Yamaha

Foto: Gold & Goose

It was not to be his last victory. Morbidelli also triumphed at the Teruel Grand Prix in Aragon and at the penultimate race of the season in Valencia. With three victories, he was, alongside team-mate Fabio Quartararo, the most successful MotoGP rider of the season, if one considers only the number of Grand Prix wins.

In the battle for the world title, however, Morbidelli had to concede defeat to Joan Mir. Although the Suzuki rider won only one race, he was crowned world champion with 171 points. Morbidelli finished the season as runner-up with 158 points. To this day, it remains by far the Italian’s best MotoGP year.

For 2021, Morbidelli was therefore regarded as one of the contenders for the world title. However, the season took a completely different turn. Knee problems plagued him, and an operation forced him to take an extended break.

Im Yamaha-Werksteam erlebte Franco Morbidelli schwierige Jahre

Foto: Gold & Goose

When he returned at Misano in September, the next big step in his career was actually waiting for him. Following Maverick Viñales’s premature departure, Morbidelli was promoted to the Yamaha works team and became Fabio Quartararo’s team-mate.

Yet it was precisely this move to the factory team that marked the start of the most difficult phase of his MotoGP career. Whilst Quartararo became World Champion in 2021 and was once again in contention for the title in 2022, Morbidelli was unable to regain his former form on the M1. In 2022, a seventh-place finish was his best result. The hoped-for breakthrough failed to materialise in 2023 either. After three difficult years, his partnership with Yamaha came to an end.

Ducati provided a fresh start

For 2024, Morbidelli was given a new opportunity with Pramac – and, for the first time, a Ducati. However, even before the start of the season, he suffered a serious crash whilst training on the Superbike at Portimão. As a result, he missed virtually the entire pre-season and had to get used to the Desmosedici GP during the first few race weekends.

He improved as the year went on. Regular top-six finishes showed that Morbidelli was competitive again on the Ducati. He achieved his best result, of all places, at Misano, where he finished third in the Sprint race, marking his first return to a MotoGP podium since 2021. He finished the World Championship in 9th place – though, compared to his Ducati team-mates, Morbidelli fell short of expectations.

Neustart bei Pramac-Ducati: Franco Morbidelli auf der Desmosedici

Foto: Gold & Goose

When Pramac switched from Ducati to Yamaha for 2025, Morbidelli remained with Ducati. Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team signed him, thereby reuniting two paths that had been closely linked for many years. The move paid off. As early as the second race of the season in Argentina, Morbidelli finished third on the podium. This was followed by another third place in Qatar. He also secured two sprint podium finishes. Finishing seventh in the World Championship marked his best overall position since becoming runner-up in 2020.

Morbidelli remained with VR46 in 2026 as well. However, whilst Ducati was reorganising its rider line-up for the new 850cc era starting in 2027, it became increasingly clear that there would no longer be a place for the now 31-year-old in the MotoGP line-up. The situation is now clear: he will retire at the end of the current season.

From MotoGP runner-up to the World Superbike Championship

Morbidelli can look back on a remarkable Grand Prix career. Starting as European Superstock 600 champion, he worked his way up through Moto2 to MotoGP. In 2017, he became Moto2 World Champion; three years later, he was just 13 points short of the title in the premier class.

The 2020 season, in particular, will remain closely associated with his name. Three Grand Prix victories at Misano, Aragon and Valencia, as well as the runner-up world title, made Morbidelli one of the most successful Yamaha riders in MotoGP for a time.

Franco Morbidelli

Foto: Gold & Goose

After moving to the Yamaha factory team, he was unable to replicate these performances. It was Ducati that gave him the chance to make a fresh start in racing from 2024 onwards. His connection with the Borgo Panigale-based manufacturer will now continue beyond the end of his MotoGP career. With Aruba.it Ducati, Morbidelli will be riding one of the most sought-after bikes in the World Superbike Championship for 2027.

A completely new challenge awaits him there. At the same time, Morbidelli is, in a sense, returning to his roots: before establishing himself in Grand Prix racing, he made a name for himself in production-based racing and won the 2013 Superstock 600 European Cup.

However, the MotoGP chapter is not quite over yet. Provided the Qatar GP can go ahead, there are still nine race weekends remaining in the 2026 season. It all kicks off this weekend at Misano of all places – the very circuit where Morbidelli celebrated his first MotoGP victory in 2020 and, four years later, stood on the podium for the first time in a long while with Ducati.