Moto2: Morbidelli ‘needs to keep pushing’ after Misano crash

Moto2 championship leader Franco Morbidelli says he knows now that he needs to keep pushing and to rely on his ultra-strong Marc VDS team going into the final five rounds of the 2017 season only nine points clear of Thomas Luthi.

Morbidelli looked set to extend his lead over the Swiss rider in Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix, but with torrential rain hammering his local circuit it took only a small error to drop him from the lead of the race – a mistake he knows he can no longer afford to repeat

“Unfortunately at this race I was fast all weekend in the dry but in the wet today I made a mistake. Now I have to remain focussed and push for a good result at the next race in Aragon because I still lead the championship by nine points. We know we are a strong team so now we need to keep pushing, anything can happen as we saw.”

He’ll also hoping for the return of teammate Alex Marquez in Aragon in two weeks’ time, after a fall from the Spaniard on Friday morning left him with a crack in his pelvis. Sitting out Sunday’s race, team boss Michael Bartholemy was nonetheless confident that he’ll be fighting for for his own home race though.

“It is a big shame what happened to Álex. He was doing a fantastic job and leading the session but we could see it was a very big crash. It is tough for him and the team that he can’t ride again this weekend but the injuries mean it is impossible for him to compete.

“The most important thing for Álex now is to get home to Spain to rest and recuperate because he has a huge race coming up next in Aragon. The good thing is he didn’t need an operation and there shouldn’t be any complications, so it looks like it is just a matter of time before he can be back at 100% fitness.”