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MotoGP, Morbidelli: "The Yamaha 2019? These injustices exist in sport"

"The advantage is that I know it well. I always know what's going on and this helps. As for my cancelled lap and going through to Q1, the rule is right but they communicated it late, I didn't have enough heated tyres, it could have been dangerous"

MotoGP: Morbidelli: "The Yamaha 2019? These injustices exist in sport"

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A really encouraging second position in Jerez for Franco Morbidelli. The Yamaha Petronas rider managed to put his M1 behind the factory one of Fabio Quartararo, with a gap of only 57 thousandths. Moreover, Franco also had to go through Q1 which no one would have expected after FP3, as he had seventh fastest time in the combined standings. The stewards, however, cancelled his good lap by communicating it to Franco just before FP4.

“Yes, they cancelled my time for a few millimetres but the problem was being told just before FP4 - said Morbidelli - This led to some difficult moments in the garage because we didn't have enough heated tyres. In any case, I managed to recover well and to be strong in both Q1 and Q2, finally I'm back on the front row ”.

As everyone knows, you have a different and older bike than the one available to the other Yamaha riders, specifically the 2019. Anyway you are on the front row today ...

“This one-two by me and Fabio is the same as in 2019 and obviously I'm happy to be on the front row. I have been riding this bike for a long time, sometimes it is not an advantage from a technical point of view but I know it really well, three years ago I would not have made saves like those made today. I feel the bike is very good, I understand every little thing that happens ”.

Don’t you feel it’s a bit of an injustice to be runner-up and have an older bike than the others?

"There are these injustices in sport - Franco told Sky TV - we are linked to contracts made before, much earlier. We can say that this might be the case, but I go ahead with what I have".

How did Q1 go? We saw that you wanted to safeguard a tyre…

“The level in MotoGP is so high that you can't be distracted, you always have to give everything. This is why I can say that Q1 was a real battle, I did my best to get into Q2 ”.

You have looked very solid this weekend but you showed great speed especially in the fourth sector…

“Yes, I am strong in the fourth sector. Being fast in the last part of the track is always a good weapon for a rider because that is the last chance in a race. We'll see how the race evolves but I know I have some strong points this weekend ”.

Several riders have spoken of a safety problem on this track with run-off areas that are too short. Marquez today made contact with the airfence in turn 7 during FP3.

“We talked about this in the Safety Commission yesterday, they will try to increase the run-off and it has to be done in many areas (Turn 7, where Marc crashed is not included). This is a great track but it needs improvement in terms of safety. This morning I had no brakes in turn 6 and it seemed to me that the wall was approaching very quickly ”.

Is this a problem of European tracks?

“I don't think so, the fact is that we are getting faster and faster and therefore the run-off areas are getting shorter and shorter”.

What do you think of the track limits rule? Even today, in addition to yours, we saw several times erased.

“I think it was right to cancel my laps this morning, maybe the moment when they gave me the news wasn't right because I didn't have any heated tyres ready. Today there could have been a safety problem for me but luckily the temperatures were quite high and the tyres had warmed up enough. We will ask the stewards to make a rule for this ”.

 

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