Franco Morbidelli went all out in Austin, and only for a last place in the Grand Prix of the Americas standings. On the track which will be cataloged among the most physically unforgiving of the year, the Italian-Brazilian went into battle with his official Yamaha even though he is very far from his optimal form. He recounts his ordeal which, he assures, was of no use.
Franco Morbidelli returned to MotoGP just over two months after a delicate knee operation which would have required six months of rest. For the now teammate of fabio quartararo, there could not be a miracle and from Misano, we understood that there would not be any. HAS Austin, the reality was both painful and cruel. But “Francky” went to the end of the Grand Prix, as if on his own. The result was anecdotal at the finish, since the feat was acquired by simply passing under the checkered flag.
He tells : " unfortunately, I managed to do 7-8 laps and I had to slow down my pace a lot, otherwise it would not have been possible for me to finish the race at this pace ". He specifies : " I had no more strength in my leg, I could no longer make right turns and brake left, I only changed direction with my arms and without the use of my legs, things were getting very difficult on the holes. It was one of the hardest races of the year for everyone, but it was definitely the hardest race of my life for me due to the physical conditions I find myself in now »
« It was a big challenge, but overall it was a positive weekend, we improved the speed, the feeling with the bike, I managed to take a few steps forward, in free practice we saw that I was further ahead than in Misano and that is positive » assures the former Moto2 World Champion. “ Now that we have two weeks between here and Misano, I will try to recover and work more. I am curious to go to Misano again and see progress, I hope to see it because both in the Misano tests and here we worked well, I think and hope to see improvements ».
Regarding his physical condition, he makes this diagnosis: “ it's an injury that takes 6 months to heal, we're definitely forcing time, now we're about 3 months after the operation. Of course you have to be careful but things are going well. I feel some pain but it's manageable even with painkillers. Here I had to slow down but I can manage and do a few fast laps. In Misano, which is a track with more right turns, I was able to do the whole race with a good pace and according to the possibilities I had at that time. Here it didn't happen in the same way because the track is physically demanding, it has many left turns ».
Franco Morbidelli: “I couldn’t afford to stay 6 months away from MotoGP”
« However, I think everything we do now and the work I do with the team is important for next year, for sure ". Because the work for 2022 has begun for Morbidely : “ even if I don't think about next year now, I think race by race, I'm fully involved, I want to improve, do the races and improve the feeling. My condition is not ideal, but it is important for next year ».
He ends by accepting his choice to have taken back the necklace: “ I came back very quickly, but it was the right decision in my opinion. It was important to get back on the bike as quickly as possible, I couldn't afford to stay 6 months away from MotoGP, it was something I didn't want to do. So far everything is going well, obviously 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 the best at the moment. I have to try to improve many things and the progress curve will be important and in my opinion it is going upwards, this gives me confidence ». Morbidely now has almost three weeks to strengthen before returning to the route of Misano.
MotoGP Austin J3: ranking
Credit classification motogp.com
