Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli heads home to the Italian Moto2 Grand Prix with high expectations that he can power to a first podium finish in the 2016 World Championship.

Morbidelli has climbed to within 10 points of the top six in the rankings after back-to-back fourth place finishes in Jerez and Le Mans, and his main focus this weekend is to fight for a podium in front of a boisterous and passionate home crowd.

Morbidelli’s hopes of a top three charge in Sunday’s 21-lap race have been heightened after a positive one-day test at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli earlier this week.

The test gave Morbidelli precious time on track to work on new parts and different machine settings, and he completed an impressive 122 laps to gain valuable experience and data ahead of his all-important home round.

Álex Márquez is eager to return to race action to try and inject some momentum into his difficult 2016 campaign.

The Misano test allowed the 20-year-old to work on improving front-end confidence that was lacking in Le Mans, and he goes to Mugello with a much clearer set-up direction on his Kalex machine.

The picturesque Mugello track hosted its first MotoGP event back in 1976 and has been permanently on the schedule since 1991. It’s jaw-dropping mix of fast and undulating curves makes it universally popular with riders and spectators and is always one of the most eagerly anticipated races on the calendar.

Franco Morbidelli:
“I’m really happy with my performance at the test in Misano because it was the first time this year I have been so fast in a test session. We tried a lot of things on the bike and like always you find some positive and negative points and it is all about working on a compromise. The important thing is that the bike we ended the test with is better than the bike I started the test with, so we will try and get confirmation that some parts we tried are better in practice in Mugello. I’m really looking forward to this weekend and racing in Italy. I’ve been fourth in the last two races but not really close to the fight for the podium, so my aim is to be right there challenging at the front. After the positive test in Misano I go to Mugello with a lot of power.”

Álex Márquez
“This Misano test earlier this week was very positive for me and I think it gave us a clear indication of what we need to be more competitive in the next races. We didn’t completely find a solution to some of our issues but we go to Mugello with some clear ideas on how we can improve. And more importantly this test enabled me to understand more why I crashed in the last two races. I have been a little ill at the test and I hope to be at full strength for Mugello this weekend because I go there 100% motivated to do a good job on a track I really like.”