Fifteenth in both qualifying and Sprint, Franco Morbidelli didn't experience a particularly thrilling Saturday in Portimao. Despite the difficulties he is experiencing in this penultimate round of the MotoGP season, the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team rider found himself once again in the eye of the storm. Ending up by being the subject of heavy criticism on social media, due to a decisive overtake on Oliveira during Q1. An episode that was investigated, but not sanctioned, by the Stewards.
"People are free to say what they want as long as they maintain some respect. Honestly, I didn't see any disrespect. I don't agree with the idea that many people have, but I understand it because of the way my overtaking is shown and also because of what my history is: I made a mistake this year with Maverick Vinales at Mugello for which I was penalized. So I understand being in the spotlight from this point of view and I also understand the narrative that anyone who cares about this kind of thing wants to put out there. I understand that, I accept that, and I always try to do the best job I can while trying to gain a position without being dangerous to anyone. I am not here to endanger others, but to do the best I can," Franco underlined, commenting on the incident.
"Talking about today's situation, I was doing my lap and I don't know if Miguel was on his exit lap or if he was coming back to the pits, the fact is that he was going for a walk while I had to finish my attempt," continued the VR46 rider, explaining the dynamics of the episode: "I saw a gap and I slipped through it, since he wasn't pushing anyway. I completed my lap without any drama. As we often see instead. Kind of like what happens with simulations in soccer, when you try to call the referee's attention. I didn't do any of that: I saw a space, I went in, and I finished the lap without any problems, and I'm sure there is no problem between Miguel and me, because we both know what it's like on the track. However, I also fully understand the narrative that was made and everyone's point of view."
The 30-year-old is unperturbed by the negative comments that have been directed at him several times over the course of this season, aware of the reasons why he is being criticized and of his good faith.
"I understand that I am under the magnifying glass, because I have gone to the stewards many times. Either for obstructing someone or for overtaking. The biggest mistake I can think of is the one on Maverick. I don't remember any others," he noted, "There are other riders, whose names I won't mention, who have been involved in race incidents more times than me this year and have been penalized more times than me, just for race incidents. However, for some reason, I am put in the spotlight from the point of view of pictures and their transfer to social media. However, I accept that. There are things that are much more serious than overtaking on the limit and things that are more important for me as well that I need to work on and focus on. Like the fact that I am 15th today."
Asked about MotoGP's need to make a spectacle of every incident at all costs, Morbidelli added, "Apparently there is this need. I am not one of the softer riders, but one of the more aggressive ones: if there is a battle I get into it, because I have a lot of fun. But I'm not dangerous and I'm not bad. As I said, I've had fewer race sanctioned incidents than other riders who race here and then I simply don't think I'm a bad guy. I'm here doing my favorite sport and I don't want to hurt anyone. I just try to get as far ahead as I can."
Far more laconic was his analysis of his Saturday on the track. "Progress? No. Do I expect it? Yes, I hope so. We' re continuing to work and that's what we're going to do until the end of the weekend," said Franco, who was also slowed down a bit by the erratic weather that marked the Portuguese morning: "We lost some time, which could have been quite useful. If nothing else, though, I found the feeling again with the wet tyres and we saw that I'm still fast in these kinds of conditions. It was good to be back in first position at that moment, but then the track dried out and we were back in our usual predicament again. Still, let's keep working and see."
Could the difficulties encountered in Portimao depend on the track design? " They don't depend on the track. Sometimes, it happens to have such feelings and it happened to me also in Phillip Island, in FP1 in Sepang and in Japan," replied the Ducati rider, who in Malaysia managed to turn the situation around and finish with a good result, "Yes, many times we managed to turn things around and solve the problems. So, we will continue to work."
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