Franco Morbidelli’s weekend in Austin ended in a lonely last place. and in the second race since his return to the track, he continues on his recovery course with a view to 2022. Despite a forgotten result due to his still precarious stamina, Morbido has found some positive aspects from the weekend and is already focusing on Misano 2 to See if there have been any improvements compared to the race two weeks ago, where he was looking for more returned than two months of absence.
“Unfortunately I managed to do 7-8 laps and then had to reduce my pace a lot, otherwise I would not have been able to finish the race at this pace. I had no more strength in my legs, I couldn’t make right turns or brake to the left, I only changed direction with my arms and without using my legs, it became very difficult on the bumps. It was one of the toughest races of the year for everyone, however it was certainly the toughest race of my life for me due to the physical condition I am in right now – said Morbidelli – It was a big challenge, but overall it was a positive weekend, we improved our speed, our feeling with the bike, I took a few steps forward, in free practice we saw that I was further ahead than at Misano and that’s positive. Now we have two weeks between here and Misano, I’ll try to relax and work more. I am curious to go back to Misano and see some progress, I hope to see because both in the Misano tests and here we worked well I think and I hope to improve ”.
What do the doctors say about recovery?
“This is an injury that takes six months to heal, we are definitely speeding up the time, we are now about three months after the operation. We have to be careful of course, but it’s going well.” I am in pain, but it is manageable with pain relievers. I had to slow down here, but I can do a few laps in practice. At Misano, a track with more right-hand bends, I was able to drive the whole race with good pace and the opportunities I had at the time. It didn’t go that way here because the track is physically demanding, it has a lot of left turns. However, I think everything we do now and the work I do with the team is important for next year, definitely, even if I don’t think about next year now, race after race I think I am fully involved, I want to improve myself, drive the races and improve the feeling. My condition is not optimal, but it is important for the next year ”.
Given your time, did you return early or were you entitled to return? In the meantime, Dovi finished 13th in his second race with your Yamaha: How do you know his motorcycle, how is he? Better than you expected given the stop?
“I came back very soon, but I think it’s the right move. It was important to get back on the bike as soon as possible, I couldn’t afford to be off the bike for six months, I didn’t want to. At the moment everything is going well, of course the results are not good, but at the moment I don’t have to pay too much attention to the results because there are so many things that are not at my best right now. I have to try to improve a lot and the performance curve will be important and in my opinion it is going up, that gives me confidence. In my opinion Dovi ran very well, I know the bike he rides and he rides well, with Ramon he has already found a good set-up that allowed him to finish in the points in race two, they make one excellent job ”.
You gave Oncu a two-race penalty, is that correct or not enough?
“It’s a beginning”.
What do you think of what happened in Moto3 today?
“I was so afraid for the guys involved in the accident, I was worried about Mig, who is a friend of mine. You have to get a grip on yourself, you have to do something, like Andrea said, you absolutely have to get a grip on yourself.
Moto3 is already under scrutiny, is the decision of the race management to restart the race with a five-lap sprint, in your opinion at least questionable, since we have been talking about this category for months?
“It’s certainly a questionable decision, they probably trusted these guys too much and I don’t know if it depends on the generation, the category, the bike they ride, but the result is that the races are very dangerous and they already are. ” if they are 100 km long. If they are shortened to 15 miles, they become sprint races and the danger increases. It was a questionable decision ”.