The Marc VDS rider once again had a solid weekend before finishing with the second best result of his MotoGP career, closing in on the top 10 and increasing his lead in the Championship.
Franco Morbidelli definitely clicked when the season resumed. Despite a complicated result in Austria, he has continued to progress since the summer break. First thirteenth at Brno, he then finished twelfth at Misano and he has just made further progress on the Aragon track. He was also on course for a good result at Silverstone, before the race was canceled.
The Italian driver started his weekend quietly with a twenty-second position in FP1, before clearly progressing and taking eleventh place in FP2. He then finished thirteenth in FP3 and twelfth in FP4. He missed qualifying for Q2 by only sixty-three thousandths and qualified thirteenth. He unfortunately received a six-place grid penalty for slowing down too much in the path of Bradley Smith.
Starting nineteenth, he made a strong comeback throughout the race to take eleventh position, his second best result in MotoGP. This performance allowed him to increase his lead in the Rookie Championship over Hafizh Syahrin. He thus totals seven points ahead of the latter, overtakes Aleix Espargaró in the general classification, and is even only one point behind Pol Espargaró, both official drivers: “Today I did a good job and that highlights all the work the team has done over the weekend. Unfortunately, with my penalty I started nineteenth, but I was still able to come back to finish eleventh. Without the support of my team, this would not have been possible. »
Race ranking:
1 25 93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 167.0 41'55.949
2 20 4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team Ducati 167.0 +0.648
3 16 29 Andrea IANNONE ITA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 167.0 +1.259
4 13 42 Alex RINS SPA Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki 166.9 +2.638
5 11 26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 166.7 +5.274
6 10 41 Aleix ESPARGARO SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 166.4 +9.396
7 9 9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 166.1 +14.285
8 8 46 Valentino ROSSI ITA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 166.0 +15.199
9 7 43 Jack MILLER AUS Alma Pramac Racing Ducati 166.0 +16.375
10 6 25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 165.6 +22.457
11 5 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 165.3 +27.025
12 4 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda 165.2 +27.957
13 3 38 Bradley SMITH GBR Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 165.1 +28.821
14 2 5 Johann ZARCO FRA Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 164.9 +32.345
15 1 17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team Ducati 164.6 +37.639
16 45 Scott REDDING GBR Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 164.4 +39.585
17 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI EG 0,0 Marc VDS Honda 164.4 +40.763
18 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Monster Yamaha Tech 3 Yamaha 163.4 +56.296
19 10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 163.2 +58.981
20 81 Jordi TORRES SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 163.2 +59.513
Unclassified
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL Honda 165.7 19 Tours
19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team Ducati 160.9 22 Tours
Did not finish the 1st round
99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team Ducati 0 Tour
Morbidelli, Aragon MotoGP 2018
