Franco Morbidelli has had a difficult return from injury but remains optimistic ahead of next weekend's Hungary clash.
For his return from injury, Franco Morbidelli had a complicated Grand Prix in Austria. Although fully recovered from his shoulder injury, he was unable to fully pace himself in either race. Having automatically advanced to Q2 on Friday, he qualified ninth on Saturday, but was affected by Francesco Bagnaia's slide at the start and was unable to recover. He finished 14th, but was hoping to recover in the main race on Sunday.
However, things didn't go as planned, and he missed his start, ending up in 13th. He quickly gained a place but didn't move forward until the halfway point, when he overtook Johann Zarco. He crossed the finish line in 11th position, without being able to make any progress.
The result fell far short of expectations for the Italian, who had long been fourth in the championship before dropping to sixth after his injury and absence from the Czech Grand Prix. He nevertheless remains optimistic for the Hungarian GP next weekend.
“Unfortunately, the race was difficult. It’s difficult to gain places when starting from behind. I could see that the other riders in front of me were showing a similar pace to me, so I had to make some big overtakes to make up ground. Overall, we had a good feeling throughout this weekend back in Austria.”, he said during his debriefing.
"The speed was there, even though I got stuck in traffic, both in the sprint race and in Sunday's race. We're confident, we're aware we have a lot of work to do for the next race, but we're eager to get back on track."
Results Grand Prix from Austria
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
