Franco Morbidelli

Franco Morbidelli is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer, born on 4 December 1994 in Rome to a Brazilian mother and an Italian father, Livio Morbidelli, himself a former racer. The family moved to Tavullia, where he trained with the group that became the VR46 Academy and later became its first official member. A lack of funding kept him out of the Spanish CEV 125cc series, so he raced the European Superstock 600 Championship from 2011 and won it in 2013 with Team Italia on a Kawasaki. He won the 2017 Moto2 World Championship with Marc VDS, taking eight races that season. He moved up to MotoGP in 2018, was named rookie of the year, then rode for Petronas Yamaha SRT, and now rides for Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team.