MotoGP Brno J3 Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha/2): first podium and 3rd in the championship!

Franco Morbidelli scored his first MotoGP podium at the Czech Republic Grand Prix, after an almost perfect race despite tire wear and lack of grip on the Masaryk circuit.

A lightning start from the transalpine driver allowed him to immediately take the lead on the first lap, before stringing together a series of fast laps to move away from the rest of the peloton.

Having to deal with both tire wear and the rise of Brad Binder, the Italian made the wise decision to settle for second place and relinquished the lead of the race on the 13th of 21 laps.

A first podium in the MotoGP category for the protégé of Valentino Rossi, which allows him to be in 3rd place in the championship, behind his teammate Fabio Quartararo and Maverick Viñales: Yamaha is happy!

Franco Morbidelli : " I am very happy, even overwhelmed, to have finished on the podium today! I wanted it and I worked on it all weekend. It was a bit of a strange race because I couldn't push 100% throughout the race. At first I was going quite fast, my pace was better than I expected and I was moving away from the peloton. I saw that I clearly had a real chance of getting the podium. I saw Brad catching up with me and I knew he might be in a better position than me because he had the medium tire. I didn't try to fight because I just wanted to make sure I got to the end of the race and got my first podium. I'm also a little disappointed because I was hoping to get the victory. »
« I had another tire degradation 5 laps from the finish. It was a surprise, but we had already said yesterday that we would jump into the unknown with five laps to go. Now we know! I had a drop, but I was able to manage it because I was gentle on the tires for the first 15 laps. So I was able to bring the bike back to second place, which is really good for me and for the team. I'm just happy because it's my first podium. I have to say thank you to everyone at Petronas Yamaha SRT, to my team, to Yamaha, and to all the people who support me at home. Now we rest for three days and leave for Austria with a big dose of confidence, and knowing that we can be strong. I can not wait to be there. Congratulations to Brad and his machine! They did a very good job. His pace and level were really good. »

Razlan Razali, Team Director: “ It was a very unpredictable race and we are extremely happy with Franco's second place. We send our congratulations to Brad Binder and KTM who have done an outstanding job. It's a great day for Franco and we are also quite happy with Fabio's result. Of course we have to evaluate what happened, but overall we are very happy. »