Franco Morbidelli continues to have his ration of black bread in this 2022 season spent under the official Yamaha colors. It is nothing to say that he did not experience success in an Argentine Grand Prix which he had to leave prematurely due to a puncture of his rear tire. For the moment, it is not explained. And it is with these doubts that Fabio Quartararo's teammate is flying to Texas for this weekend's Austin round...
To Franco Morbidelli, the race to Rio Hondo Termas ended prematurely. On the 8th lap he had to stop due to a puncture. The end of an ordeal since the Italian-Brazilian was only 16th at the time. He had also qualified poorly without forgetting the fact of having lost more places from the start… “ Unfortunately, I lost four positions at the start, which can easily happen in turmoil "Says Morbidelli after going from 15th on the grid to 18th on the first lap. “ After that I started gaining places and I was on Marco Bezzecchi ».
The pilot of 27 years old then said to himself that he was on his way to the points. But the bad luck remained stuck on his Yamaha struck on the 21st… “ On the 8th lap I had a puncture which made me stop the race and come back to the pits. It's a shame. Even if my pace wasn't exceptional, I could have fought for a top 10 result ". And he adds: « We didn't understand the cause of the puncture, we were very unlucky ».
Franco Morbidelli: “at the start of the race, they all overtake us even if they don't have a faster pace than us"
Certainly, but before that, the 2020 world vice-champion had noticed something worrying about his Yamaha official, also noted by his teammate Fabio Quartararo and which has nothing to do with lack of success… “ The others at the start of the race have new tires, a lot of power and they manage to put everything in crisis, to squeeze everything. And when they push, they all overtake us even if they don't have a faster pace than us. At the start of the race they overtake us. Then, we must gradually recover positions, but we are starting from afar and it is not ideal ».
Last year, Yamaha won the world championship with fabio quartararo, and this season the brand is penultimate in the manufacturers' standings after three races. Although Quarterly limited the damage to sixth place in the Argentine Grand Prix, the atmosphere at the Japanese manufacturer is not good.
MotoGP Argentina J3: classification
Credit classification motogp.com
