Franco Morbidelli tells of an amusing incident during his first ride with Valentino Rossi

Franco Morbidelli says he was so impressed by MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi that he had an accident during their first race together on the track.

Current Pramac rider Morbidelli was one of the first members of Rossi's VR46 Academy, which the nine-time world champion founded over a decade ago to develop young Italian racing talent.

Morbidelli became the VR46 Academy's first world champion in 2017 when he secured the Moto2 crown, became the first to make the jump to MotoGP and the first to win a race in the premier class.

Speaking to the MotoGP podcast ahead of last weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Morbidelli told an amusing anecdote about the first time he shared a track with Rossi.

“Of course, in the beginning, when I first saw Vale… I remember falling when I first saw Vale on the track because I was so blinded that I landed on the ground,” he said.

“Over time, of course, it wears off, but when you're around him and you stop and think about what the guy is capable of and what he's accomplished and how he does it every single second of his life, you're amazed. So I still get it.”

Morbidelli's path to Grand Prix racing was unconventional: the Italian rode in the European Superstock 600 – where he became champion in 2013 – before moving up to Moto2 in 2014.

When asked how he first met Rossi, Morbidelli said: “I was a young rider and I was racing minibikes.

“And my father, a former rider in the 70s, raced in this area of Pesaro.

“So when things started moving more towards the series and it looked like I was going to be some kind of driver, he decided to give me the best environment he had found in his career.

“So we moved from Rome to Pesaro, and this is the area where great champions grew up, where – in my opinion – the best rider in history grew up.

“So we moved here, and through some contacts my father asked Graziano [Rossi] if I could train with them.

“I was 12 and was already training with [Marco] Simoncelli, with Vale. I was a crazy rider, I was 12 and riding a Yamaha 450 and I was already giving them a fight.”

Franco Morbidelli tells of an amusing incident during his first ride with Valentino Rossi | MotoGP

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