One Ducati rider makes bold claim about his Thai MotoGP race

VR46 Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli believes “first was the maximum” he could have aimed for in the MotoGP Thai Grand Prix had it not been for a grid penalty.

Morbidelli was slapped with a three-place grid drop for last Sunday’s season-opener at Buriram for impeding Pecco Bagnaia in Practice.

This dropped Morbidelli to ninth on the grid, though he was able to get back up to fourth after some hard racing in the early stages.

But Morbidelli got stuck in fourth, saying he used up his tyres too much trying to recover ground from his penalty to challenge for a what he believes could have been a big result.

Franco Morbidelli analyses Thailand MotoGP

“First was the maximum today, but fourth was the maximum we could do starting from the position we were starting from after Friday’s mistake,” he said after the Thai GP last weekend.

“We recovered very well [on Saturday]. I was more keen on using the hard front.

“But the team convinced me to use the soft front and actually it was the right choice because at the beginning of the race I could make the passes that I made, which were the only passes we saw through the race, which were very risk with this kind of temperature and this kind of layout and with the kilometres the riders have on this track.

“It was very difficult to make those overtakes. And as soon as I got to Pecco, I made a mistake because I needed to use too much the front tyre to pass the other guys.

“Then I needed to breathe again because it was very hot, step back and bring the bike to P4.”

An area of weakness for Morbidelli on the Ducati GP24 last season was his steady starts to races, which is something he turned around in Thailand.

But he notes that his two best starts - Mandalika last year, and Buriram last weekend - were offset by his poor grid position.

“Definitely we were explosive,” he added.

“We did a great start. This one, with the start, with last year’s start in Mandalika were the best starts we got.

“So, I’m getting there. The important thing, though, is to start more in front because today I was ninth, in Mandalika that time I was 11th.

“I don’t want to do that. I want to start more in front and have strong first laps.”

Morbidelli’s form in the Thai GP drew high praise from Ducati’s Gigi Dall’Igna, who said: “A big smile for Morbidelli too, gritty and battle-hardened, who despite the grid penalty, finished with an admirable fourth place after an exciting comeback.”

Quotes provided by Crash MotoGP Editor Peter McLaren