FRANCO IS BACK! Home GP and first time with Yamaha!
Franky makes his long-awaited return at the San Marino GP as a Monster Energy Yamaha rider after a 3-months break due to knee injury.
Franco started his first race weekend as a Factory Yamaha rider with great enthusiasm, getting a lot of work done with his brand new crew. FP1 began in dry conditions and Franky set a time of 1:33.570 on lap 8/14 that put him in 16th place, only 0.904 from the top. Unfortunately with just over 10 minutes left, heavy rain prevented Franky from putting any more laps in.
In the afternoon, with rain still falling, Franky continued to assess the performance level of his still healing left knee which, in his own words “is not in an ideal condition, but I’m certain that I’m able to ride.”
He was very impressive, ending the wet FP2 session in P13, the fastest of the Yamaha’s.
“It was a great day for me. It was really nice to start riding again and in these colours for this team and with this bike.” he said afterwards. “I’m really pleased with what happened today, and it’s a day that I’m going to remember, for sure.”
No rider improved in the wet afternoon session, so Franky ended day 1 in P16, eager to improve the next day and adapt to the new bike as soon as possible.
