‘Japanese crisis’: Morbidelli top non-European machine in 12th

Monster Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli was the rider on board, finishing 22.949s from race winner Jorge Martin.

As well as the eight Ducatis, Morbidelli was also behind a pair of KTMs (Jack Miller in sixth and rookie Augusto Fernandez in eleventh) plus the RNF Aprilia of tenth place Miguel Oliveira.

“We were able to make a very similar race time to what Fabio [Quartararo] did last year winning the race. The problem is this year is a completely different story and we're doing similar performances than last year, but everybody else was able to improve so much,” said Morbidelli. “And here we are.”

“Best Yamaha, best Japanese [bike] and we have to take it. We also have to take the good job of this weekend by my crew and carry the positives on to the next races and step up.”

Martin’s winning time was 20.367s quicker than Quartararo's last year. The Frenchman's soft tyre gamble backfired in the race, but he felt his potential would only have been tenth place anyway.

Pressed on the continued divide between the performance of the European manufacturers (Ducati, KTM and Aprilia) and that of Japanese giants Honda (which only had one rider fit to race on Sunday) and Yamaha, currently at the bottom of the constructors' standings, Morbidelli replied:

“This is a… We can call it crisis. We can call it Japanese crisis. Something got lost along the way. And the Europeans were able to work better, especially the Ducatis and the KTMs.

“They were able to put a better effort into the project. And we've seen it also from last year to this year, they even stepped it up. And they are stepping up also during the championship.

“It means that they have a such a great margin on their machines.

“I hope that something will change in the future. [That it] will be better for us, for the Japanese [bike] riders. And will be better for the show as well.”

However, Morbidelli admitted he had “no idea” of when updates might arrive for the M1, which has taken a best of third for Quartararo and fourth for Morbidelli so far this season. However, Quartararo's next best Sunday result is seventh and Morbidelli's eighth.

Former title runner-up Morbidelli's factory Yamaha future is set to be decided in the coming weeks, with discussions expected to intensify at Assen this weekend.

“Talk with Gianluca [Falcioni, VR46 management] and Lin [Jarvis], they know better about my future. For sure, if I look at my performance and the feeling that I have now with the bike, I would say finally I'm much more in tune with the bike," said Morbidelli, who is twelfth in the world championship, but only seven points behind Quartararo (eighth).

“It's just a matter of extreme risk and having the confidence, or the balls, to always risk a little bit more than the other guys. And that came, finally. Thanks to the work that the crew did as well. But as we all can see, there are many, many other steps to do.”

Falcioni told the official MotoGP website at Sachsenring: “We are talking to Yamaha [about Morbidelli's future] and will sit down by Assen. Our priority is to try to find a way to continue together, we think this is also what Yamaha thinks.

“We are both looking for a continuation, of course there are elements to consider, but this is the goal for everybody.”

Falcioni also played down the chances of Morbidelli switching to a VR46’s own satellite Ducati team as a Plan B:

“The focus at the moment is racing, doing our best and continuing with Yamaha.

“VR46 is like a big family so if Franky is an option I think they would love it, but the team at the moment has two great riders [Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini] and I think they will continue with both.

“And Franky wants to be with Yamaha, so I don’t think it’s an option, honestly speaking.”