Franco Morbidelli did not finish the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix. With seven laps remaining, he crashed out while running sixth, having already recovered from an earlier mistake.
The Prima Pramac Racing rider spoke about his initial error, which cost him significant time: ‘It’s a pity, because I was trying to control everything, but then at one point I made a big mistake when I was fifth and I left the rear device engaged doing all the Sector 4 with a low bike, and I lost one second – and then I lost the position for Brad [Binder] and Marc [Márquez]’.
Undeterred, Morbidelli set out to recover but admitted he might have pushed too hard: ‘Then I was trying to recover step by step, but maybe I was too aggressive in turn 10 and I just lost the front. It was a small crash but enough to abandon the aim which was the podium’.
With a competitive pace in Barcelona, Morbidelli lamented the mistakes he made: ‘The speed was great, this weekend we had a great speed. We just made three big mistakes, which are the crash in the second time attack, the big mistake in the middle of the race that made me lose one second, and then the crash of course in the last part of the race. But we can aim for great stuff, I’m happy’.
Regarding tyre management, Morbidelli commented that he had no issues: ‘I was feeling very good. I was ready to make another push and go again in mid-1m40s – which was the pace that the first two guys were keeping. So I was aiming for great stuff’.