Franco Morbidelli: ‘The important thing is that everything is OK with me, my head. Now it's time to keep working and chasing the top guys’.
The Italian’s pre-season preparations were brutally halted by a head injury while training on a Superbike at Portimao in January.
That meant Morbidelli was not only riding the ‘full’ spec Desmosedici GP24 for the very first time in Friday practice, having tried an early version at last November’s Valencia test, but had also been advised not to ride any kind of motorcycle as a precaution following his accident. The 29-year-old was back in last place, albeit by only 0.028s, during qualifying, then finished 20th and +23.267s in the Saturday Sprint race.
“I feel good with the bike. I was improving, improving and catching up to the top guys . But that's not important. The important thing is that everything is OK with me, my head. And now it's time to keep working and keep chasing the top guys.