It was certainly not the Saturday Franco Morbidelli had dreamed of. The Yamaha rider was unable to gain access to Q2 from free practice. In the final moments of Q1 he then crashed in what seemed to be his best lap to get into Q2 and fight for pole. Franco will unfortunately start in 18th place tomorrow and the Sachsenring circuit is certainly not the best to try a comeback.
It is at least some consolation to know that he has excellent pace and therefore has the potential to at least try to run an attack race in the hopes that the tires will last a long time given the problem of excessive wear that looms over the race distance keep. The scenario gets worse when you consider that the Sachsenring itself could have been the perfect track to give Morbidelli a decent chance, as there aren’t any long straights that usually hinder his underperforming M1. The problem is always the same, its rivals kept developing while Morbidelli has a 2019 bike …
“In my opinion this MotoGP is at the highest level ever – said Morbidelli – there are a lot of young riders who are fast, the most experienced know how to sort out the bike and also go very fast. There are many manufacturers that work well and are able to be at the forefront by providing great packages to their drivers. Even the regulations mean that the level is very high and the balance sheet is really precarious ”.
But did you take something good with you from this Saturday?
“I am satisfied with the feelings I have on the bike, in FP4 I was also fast and consistent. The data we collect is interesting in my opinion. Tomorrow I’ll start very far back and think that the chances of a good race are practically zero. But I’ll try, maybe with a good start, and try to get my pace as good as possible and then see where that takes me. At least I didn’t injure myself in the crash, I just took a bad blow. “
What does not work?
“I feel good with the bike, but I’m always at the limit because I lose too much on the straight, on the downhill and also on the main straight. I lose on almost every point of the track compared to Quartararo who is the best Yamaha rider. On the straights, I accumulate almost half of my residue and it’s hard for me to recover, even impossible. It’s difficult to be faster than the best here, it was really difficult on this track. “
Is overtaking more difficult here than anywhere else?
“In my opinion, I don’t have the bike to overtake anyone.”
The other Yamaha riders are not really in better shape, except for Quartararo. Did you compare your data with his?
“It’s almost impossible to compare my performance with other Yamaha riders, the package is very different. I can look at some data, understand where I’m losing the most, and maybe try to correct the trajectories to suit myself to recover.” But you never know how much leeway you have to improve, you don’t know whether you are already at the limit of your possibilities. I trust my feelings and they tell me that I ride very well and feel very comfortable on the bike. I can more or less do what I want, but it’s not enough to be in really interesting positions. “
How do you explain this advantage of Fabio?
“I know Fabio very well and I know his driving style, which is pretty strange. He does things that are often different from everyone else that I know well. But I can’t say anything else except that he’s special “.
What about the tires, it could be a bit of a long distance race …
“The race will be tough for the tires. When I’m alone, I can keep a good pace and maybe drive a good race. But when I’m with the others it becomes a problem.” The fact is that I always lose on the straights and don’t recover in corners. I’m in a group because the others are actually blocking me. I I can try to relax as much as I want, but it always is. When cornering, I am often forced to slow down, and when I accelerate, I always lose ground. I don’t have many options, it’s always like this. “.
In your opinion, how would you have qualified without the crash in Q1 and perhaps without entering Q2?
“I was at the limit, I don’t know how much I could have pushed more in Q1. Maybe I would have won something back with the Hard, which was the right choice, but I’m not sure. Only a few times in my MotoGP career have I ridden this close to the limit.