Andrea Dosoli hoping to lure Franco Morbidelli to World SBK as Toprak Razgatlioglu replacement - ‘He could open a cycle'
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ByEurosport
Published 17/07/2023 at 12:22 GMT
The identity of the driver line-up at Yamaha ahead of the 2024 World Superbike season is still a little bit unclear. Toprak Razgatlioglu will be leaving to move over and try his luck with BMW, and they are still looking for someone to pair with Andrea Locatelli. Could it be Franco Morbidelli? Yamaha still hope so and want to persuade him to leave MotoGP to join World Superbike.
Highlights: Razgatlioglu takes Race 2 victory as world champion Bautista crashes out
Yamaha and their Road Racing Manager Andrea Dosoli are still hopeful of luring Franco Morbidelli to World Superbike from MotoGP.
Yamaha are set to lose Toprak Razgatlioglu to BMW at the end of the 2023 season and are exploring options for a possible replacement to go alongside Andrea Locatelli, signed until 2025.
One option could be Morbidelli, who was spotted in the garage at the recent Italian World Superbike Grand Prix at Imola and currently races for Yamaha in MotoGP.
However, with his contract up at the end of the season and results hit and miss in this campaign, it has been speculated that he would be allowed to leave.
It has been speculated, by Carlo Pernat amongst others, that Spanish rider Alex Rins will break his Honda contract to join Yamaha.
That could mean that either Ducati or Honda turn their attention to Morbidelli, but Dosoli still wants to bring the Italian over to World Superbike.
Speaking to Corsedimoto.com, Dosoli said: “Franco was our guest at Misano. He saw with his own eyes how the team works, how Superbike is from the inside.
"He and the manager have all the elements to make a decision. We just have to wait.
"Franco has been racing in GPs for 10 years. We know that for a first-time MotoGP rider it is difficult to fully assess the change of horizon.
“With us he could open a cycle, becoming a bit like the new Max Biaggi."
The reference to Biaggi is a throwback to the 2007 World Superbike season when the Italian joined Suzuki. This came after losing his Honda seat in MotoGP in 2005 and sitting out the 2006 MotoGP season having not being able to find a new opportunity.
After joining Aprilia in 2009, he went on to win two world titles, in 2010 and 2012.
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