Red flag as Franco Morbidelli worryingly crashes his Ducati at Portimao test day
Franco Morbidelli lost control of Panigale V4S at a test day
Franco Morbidelli caused a red flag by crashing his Ducati on Tuesday at Portimao.
He lost control of his Panigale V4S at Turn 9. Marc Marquez and Alex Marquez helped him back to the medical centre.
It was described as a “bad crash” causing “moments of apprehension” by GPOne.
But Morbidelli is not reporting any notable injuries.
"Morbidelli has suffered a serious blow, but has nothing to regret and returns to the box, although he will no longer go out to ride," Motorsport report.
The incident took place in the afternoon session of the second test day organised by the Aruba.it WorldSBK team, which also included Ducati MotoGP riders.
Morbidelli was on track alongside the two Gresini Ducati riders Marc Marquez and Alex Marquez, and the VR46 duo Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio di Giannantonio.
On Monday, the first day of the test, Morbidelli was 26th-fastest overall but was third out of six current MotoGP riders (not including the Marquez brothers whose lap times were not recorded, because their bikes were not fitted with transponders).
For the Ducati MotoGP riders, these two days were predominantly about physical training.
Morbidelli is a veteran of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Academy so is no stranger to the circles he found himself in during this Portimao test.
But after five years with Yamaha he has switched to Pramac Ducati this season.
It means Morbidelli will use a GP24, alongside new teammate Jorge Martin and the factory pair Francesco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
