Morbidelli to confirm ‘24 seat, strengthening Valentino Rossi’s bond with Ducati

Morbidelli is set to sign for Pramac Racing, completing a crucial part of the 2024 MotoGP rider line-up puzzle, Motosprint report.

And his move from Yamaha to Ducati will mean that all four of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy graduates on the current MotoGP grid will be tied to the dominant Italian manufacturer.

That will have a big knock-on effect for the future of Rossi’s Mooney VR46 team.

They are contracted to Ducati for 2024 but have already opened negotiations to extend their stay longer, the report states.

Dorna, however, reportedly want to push VR46 towards becoming a Yamaha satellite team, in order to reduce Ducati’s bikes from eight to six.

But Morbidelli’s switch from Yamaha to Ducati will now strengthen the bond between Rossi and Ducati.

Rossi remains a brand ambassador for Yamaha, the team where his legendary career enjoyed the most success, but professionally he is now benefiting from Ducati where, as a rider, he notoriously failed.

Morbidelli lost his ride for next year with Yamaha when they opted to ditch him in favour of Alex Rins.

Johann Zarco, in turn, opted to leave Pramac to replace Rins at LCR Honda.

Marco Bezzecchi then rejected Pramac to stay with Rossi’s Mooney VR46, creating an opening on a 2024-spec Desmosedici next year.

Morbidelli now looks likely to become the beneficiary of the best bike on the grid.