Franco Morbidelli

The Forcada Tapes - Radio Ocotillo Interviews Ramon Forcada - Part 3, On Working With Famous Riders, And What Sets Morbidelli Apart

Submitted by David Emmett on

Radio Ocotillo, the podcast from the Cinta Americana website featuring the Spanish-language work of Dennis Noyes, spoke to Ramon Forcada, crew chief to Franco Morbidelli of the Petronas Yamaha team. Veteran journalist Noyes was joined by Teledeporte commentator Judit Florensa and journalist Cristian Ramón Marín Sanchi, and spoke to Forcada for some 90 minutes. Noyes translated that fascinating conversation into English for MotoMatters.com readers, and split it into three parts.

In part one of Radio Ocotillo's interview with Ramon Forcada, he explained how he and Yamaha had managed almost an entire season on just two engines. In the second part, Forcada talked about all of the bikes he has worked on over the years compare, and what he thinks of MotoGP's current set of technical rules.

In the final part, Forcada talks about some of the riders he has worked with over the past thirty one years. From Casey Stoner to John Kocinski, from Alex Barros and Carlos Checa to Franco Morbidelli, Forcada explains how each of them were different and how he learned to understand them and collaborate. And he talks at length about what sets Franco Morbidelli apart from the rest.

Franco Morbidelli after qualifying for the Portimao MotoGP 2020 Grand Prix

Radio Ocotillo: After so many years in the paddock, you have worked with so many riders with such different personalities, if you had to choose the three riders whose company and character you must enjoyed, who would they be?

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The Forcada Tapes - Radio Ocotillo Interviews Ramon Forcada - Part 2, On 2020 vs 2019 M1s, 2-Strokes vs 4-Strokes, And MotoGP's Technical Rules

Submitted by Dennis Noyes on

Radio Ocotillo, the podcast from the Cinta Americana website featuring the Spanish-language work of Dennis Noyes, spoke to Ramon Forcada, crew chief to Franco Morbidelli of the Petronas Yamaha team. Veteran journalist Noyes was joined by Teledeporte commentator Judit Florensa and journalist Cristian Ramón Marín Sanchi, and spoke to Forcada for some 90 minutes. Noyes translated that fascinating conversation into English for MotoMatters.com readers, and split it into three parts.

In part one of Radio Ocotillo's podcast interview with Ramon Forcada, he explained how he and Yamaha had managed almost an entire season on just two engines. In the second part, Forcada talks about the differences between the bike which Morbidelli raced in 2020 and the 2020-spec Yamaha M1s of Maverick Viñales, Valentino Rossi, and Fabio Quartararo. He talks about how he uses data from previous seasons to understand what to do in a particular season. And he talks about the greater lessons he learned from the past.

Over the thirty one years of his career, Forcada has worked on a lot of different motorcycles and engines. He reviews his experience, and talks about the bikes he loved, and how the job has changed over the years. And he gives a frank opinion on the current state of MotoGP's technical regulations.

Radio Ocotillo: All season long we have been hearing that there were two types of Yamaha. The three 2020 bikes and your 2019 bike. Are the motors identical not just inside but also externally?

Fabio Quartararo and Franco Morbidelli at the 2020 MotoGP Sepang Test

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The Forcada Tapes - Radio Ocotillo Interviews Ramon Forcada - Part 1, On Finishing 2nd Using Just 2 Engines The Whole Season

Submitted by Dennis Noyes on

Ramon Forcada comes from the motorcycle racing heartland of Catalunya. He hails from the small town of Moià, capital of "comarca" of Moianès, located almost equidistant from the homes of two of Spain's best-known roadracers: Spain's first 500cc champion, Alex Crivillé, is from Seva, about 14 miles east of Moià, and Spain's first and only World Superbike Champion, Carlos Checa is from Sant Fruitós de Bages, about the same distance in the other way. Both Crivillé, in 125cc and 250cc, and Checa, in MotoGP, raced and won with machines fettled by Ramon.

In the most recent episode of Radio Ocotillo, a series of Spanish-language podcasts dedicated to MotoGP and WorldSBK from the Cinta Americana website of Dennis Noyes, Forcada, currently crew chief for Franco Morbidelli in the Petronas Yamaha MotoGP team, talked about the 2020 season that saw Morbidelli, on a 2019 Petronas Yamaha, win three GPs and take second to Joan Mir in the championship.

Morbidelli's break-out season is the most recent success in Forcada's 31-year career in GP racing that began when he ran the test bed program during Crivillé's championship-winning season on a Rotax-powered 125cc JJ-Cobas in 1989. Over the years, Forcada was crew chief for five riders who have won premier class Grands Prix (Alex Barros, Carlos Checa, Jorge Lorenzo, Maverick Viñales and Franco Morbidelli) and, more famously, he headed the technical crew the took Jorge Lorenzo to Yamaha's last three MotoGP titles.

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Guest Blog: Mat Oxley’s 2020 MotoGP Top Ten

Submitted by Mat Oxley on

Joan Mir won the 2020 MotoGP World Championship, but was he the strongest rider last season?

What’s the point of a journalist conjuring up his own MotoGP top ten when the championship does exactly that?

Not much really, but looking beyond race wins, podiums and points allows us to take into account other factors, like the quality of a rider’s machinery, the strength of his back-up crew and the depth of his experience.

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Portimao MotoGP Subscriber Notes: Local Knowledge vs Fast Riders, Yamaha's Conundrum, And Suzuki Sinking Without A Trace

Submitted by David Emmett on

According to Albert Einstein's Special theory of relativity, time slows down as your speed increases. The faster you go, the slower time appears to pass. That would explain why the Covid-compressed 2020 MotoGP season has simultaneously felt like it was taking forever and is over in the blink of an eye. 14 races in 18 weeks was brutal on everyone involved, an intense schedule which had everyone working at light speed yet struggling to keep up. You would have to go back to the 1960s to find a season that was so short. But back then, they were fitting 8 races into 18 weeks, not nearly double that.

At least we had a fitting stage for the season finale. In a season with highs and lows, holding the last MotoGP round of 2020 at the roller-coaster which is the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve was fitting, a metaphor for the year made physical. But did that location give the winner, Miguel Oliveira, an advantage at what was effectively his home race? Was he, like Nicky Hayden at Laguna Seca in 2005, better able to unlock the secrets of the Portimão track because he had ridden here so often?

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Portimao MotoGP Thursday Round Up: How To Approach The Last Race With Nothing On The Line

Submitted by David Emmett on

And so the voyage into the unknown begins. MotoGP kicks off its final round of this fundamentally weird season at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao. The combination of the final round, a new circuit, and the Moto2 and Moto3 titles still at stake meant that it was a long and grueling day of interviews, media debriefs, and press conferences, with barely a moment to catch your breath or a quick bite to eat in between.

It started off with the Asia Talent Cup graduation ceremony, which finished just before the MotoGP rider debriefs were due to start. At the same time as the first batch of debriefs, there were the press conferences for the Moto3 and Moto3 championships, featuring the three title contenders in each class. More debriefs, and then the MotoGP pre-event press conference, this time with the line up expanded from six to seven riders. A final debrief – Valentino Rossi – and then the last press conference of the day, an hour-long discussion with the six MotoGP factory bosses, looking back at the season.

It was a long day. Growing up, my mother used to warn me of the perils of watching too much TV, telling me I risked developing square eyes. Nearly half a century later, I think I finally understand what she meant. Of all the information that was poured into my brain during this everlasting day, I'm not sure I managed to retain any of it.

New track, but an old friend for some

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Guest Blog: Mat Oxley - Back to the future: the story of second-hand MotoGP bikes

Submitted by Mat Oxley on

On Sunday Franco Morbidelli proved that an old motorcycle can sometimes be better than a new motorcycle. And he’s not the first to do that

There’s been so much talk about Yamaha’s 2019 and 2020 YZR-M1s in recent weeks that this may be a good time to look into the joys of second-hand MotoGP bikes.

Fabio Quartararo, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales can’t revert to 2019 M1s due to MotoGP engine regulations but you can be sure they would if they could, because the 2019 M1 chassis seems to be better balanced than the 2020 version.

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Valencia MotoGP Subscriber Notes, Part 2: Battles On A Tight Track, And Comparing The 2019 And 2020 Yamahas

Submitted by David Emmett on

The Valencia round of MotoGP is going to be remembered primarily as the race where Joan Mir make history, becoming the sixth Suzuki rider to win the premier class title, following in the footsteps of Kenny Roberts Jr, Kevin Schwantz, Franco Uncini, Marco Lucchinelli, and Barry Sheene. Rightly so, given the significance of that title, and Mir's path to winning the title. You can read more about that in part one of my Valencia round up.

But there was more to Valencia than just Joan Mir clinching the championship. The Circuit Ricardo Tormo is supposed to be a hard track to pass at, yet in all three classes we saw last-lap battles where the lead and podium places changed hands multiple times. We saw the 2019 Yamaha triumph where the 2020 model came up a long way short. We saw KTM take three of the top six positions, and we saw Andrea Dovizioso surprise himself with an eighth place.

So here are some notes from an intriguing and exciting race weekend.

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