Last year’s enraged Italian was Andrea Dovizioso. We all had a good laugh at him and Ducati publicly hating on each other. It’s said that Andrea was so infuriated with Ducati that he broke into Gigi Dall’Ign’s house, toasted all of the bread and put it back in the bag.
With Dovi gone and almost forgotten it’s great to see the angry-mantle has been taken up by his fellow Italian Franco Morbidelli…
Why is he upset? Is it his hair?
Not this time. Although in countries with high humidity Franco does often look like he’s auditioning for the part of the Lion King in an 80’s disco.
So what is it then?
Morbidelli, like most of us, wants a new bike. His current MotoGP Yamaha is the 2019 A-spec bike whereas the other three Yamaha riders all ponce around smugly on the latest 2021 MotoGP bike.
Why didn’t he start beefing pre-season then? Why suddenly so vocal?
Last year Morbidelli finished as the top Yamaha rider on the aforementioned year-old bike. It seemed to work really well for him as it did for his then teammate and Hapsburg dynasty rider Fabio Quartararararo the year before. The Italian saw no need to worry too much as development had been curtailed due to that pesky virus that they told us would be gone by Christmas.
Alas, it hasn’t gone to plan, as this year Franko has struggled to keep pace with Vinales and Quartarararo on the factory Yamaha machines. Rather than dig deep and focus on his own development it’s was always easier to point the finger of blame at the bike and that’s exactly what Morbidelli has been doing.
It’s the bike’s fault he’s not winning. It’s the bike’s fault he’s amassed less than half the points of Fabio. And it’s probably the bike’s fault Pol Espargaro knocked him off in France.
Who’s to blame?
Here’s where things become a little bit complicated. Franky has been mentored by Valentino Rossi almost throughout every stage of his haircut – and now they’ve found themselves teammates at Petronas Yamaha SRT.
The team only has provisions for one 2021 bike…which of course ‘The Dentist’ takes as he sells more t-shirts than the far less merchandise-friendly Morbidelli. This leaves Franco with no option but to ride the dregs leftover from the Yamaha parts-bin.
Despite this Rossi’s been keen to publicly push Yamaha and Petronas SRT to provide Morbidelli with a new 2021 bike…knowing full well that it’s actually him that denying his friend the bike he wants.
To make matters worse Rossi’s on-track form has taken another dive this season as he’s once again proving to be the slowest Yamaha rider by a unpleasant margin.
Are Morbidelli and that fat kid out Stranger Things related?
There’s absolutely no connection between Dustin and Franco – however despite these facts we’re still saying ‘yes’.
What has Morbidelli said?
The Italian has been publicly sulking that it’s not fair – a bit like what Jonathan Rea does just before he wins the next superbike race by a month. Furthermore Franco has said that he’s had interest from several rival ‘factory teams’ to emphasise how much he really, really wants a full-spec Yamaha…although he’s yet to say which teams. We’re guessing Aprilia.
Morbidelli’s current anger rating:
3 out of 5 Chris Browns: Currently simmering away nicely
MotoGP’s guide to getting anger correct: Ukraine
Angry mobs are usually good fun to watch – as long as you’re not the one on the pointy end of their freshly sharpened sticks. The problem is that angry mobs nearly always become overly excited and end up causing physical harm and damage.
But not always. Here’s video footage of an angry mob of Ukrainians skilfully throwing the corrupt politician Vitaly Zhuravsky into a bin.
We’re not sure if it’s the fallout from Reactor 4 in the water but this a great way to display your anger.
MotoGP’s guide to getting anger wrong: Nelson Piquet
South Americans are often described as being ‘fiery’ – which is a polite way of saying they’re loose-in-the-nut. The Brazilians are no exception. Half of them are pissed off because they have no money as every time they step outside they’re pickpocketed and the other half are angry because the person they’ve just pickpocketed had no cash in their wallet.
Brazilian Nelson Piquet would often take this inbred rage on to the track in F1. So when he wasn’t insulting Nigel Mansell’s wife for being fat he could usually be found having a dust-up with some other driver/marshal/spectator/grandstand.
Here’s a clip of Nelson fighting with his once-pal Eliseo Salazar. We’re fine with the fisty-cuffs – it’s just the way he ended it too soon and threw his gloves about diluted the entertainment.