An emotional Grand Prix: Morbidelli’s final MotoGP appearance in Italy

For the VR46 Team, one of the highlights of the 2026 MotoGP season is on the agenda this coming weekend. At the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix, Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio will be competing in front of their home crowd. For Morbidelli, the weekend holds a very special significance.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that the 31-year-old will be leaving MotoGP at the end of the season. Morbidelli is set to move to the World Superbike Championship in 2027, taking over at Aruba.it Ducati from Nicolo Bulega, who in turn is moving up to MotoGP with VR46.

This means Misano will be Morbidelli’s final home race in MotoGP. The Italian, who has Brazilian roots, associates some of the finest moments of his career with the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

First and foremost, his first MotoGP victory: in September 2020, Morbidelli triumphed at Misano, laying the foundations for his most successful season in the premier class. With a total of three wins, he battled for the world championship right until the end of the season and finished as runner-up behind Joan Mir. In 2024, Morbidelli returned to the podium at Misano, finishing third in the Sprint race.

MotoGP 2020: Franco Morbidelli auf der Petronas-Yamaha

Foto: Gold & Goose

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Consequently, there is great anticipation ahead of his final MotoGP appearance in front of an Italian crowd. After a difficult weekend at Aragon, the rider currently 16th in the World Championship standings with 53 points is keen to demonstrate once again the potential he and his Ducati possess.

“Misano is always incredible. The atmosphere is magical and the home crowd is always something special,” enthuses Morbidelli. “We’re coming into our home race highly motivated because we showed good potential in Aragon. Unfortunately, we couldn’t turn that into a result, but this weekend we want to fight back.”

The objective for Misano is clear: “We want to have a clean weekend. It will be important to get the most out of everything and do a great job, because, along with Brazil, this is the most important race of the year for me.” Morbidelli gained further experience on the circuit over the course of the year through test rides on the Superbike and his participation in World Ducati Week.

Di Giannantonio wants to put Aragon behind him

Team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio also has something to make up for after the previous race weekend. In Aragon, the Roman fell well short of his potential. In Misano, he wants to return to the form that had previously taken him into the leading pack of the MotoGP World Championship.

With 208 points, Di Giannantonio is 48 points behind the championship leader. He is currently just 24 points adrift of the top three in the championship. Misano is also one of the circuits where the 27-year-old has enjoyed success on several occasions. In 2017 and 2018, he finished third on the podium there in Moto3. This was followed by a second-place finish in Moto2 in 2019. Last year, he made it onto the podium once again, finishing third in the MotoGP Sprint.

“We’re really raring to go at Misano,” emphasises Di Giannantonio. “It’s our home race and we have to push as hard as we possibly can. Racing in front of your own fans, family and friends always gives you that extra motivation to perform even better.”

He also takes heart from last year’s experience. “We’re coming to Misano with very good data from last year, when we were really strong. That will certainly make our job easier. But the insights from Aragon could also be helpful, even though it wasn’t an easy weekend.”

For VR46, the weekend holds special significance anyway. The team’s base is just a few kilometres away in Tavullia. In 2023, the team celebrated second place in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix at Misano, and last year they added another Sprint podium finish. In keeping with the home race, VR46 will be competing in a special team shirt, the design of which combines the flags of Romagna, San Marino and Italy.