Franco Morbidelli on Marc Marquez contact: ‘He went left, we got tangled’

The fallout from Marc Marquez’s front holeshot device issue saw a tangle with Franco Morbidelli into Turn 1 of Sunday’s Austrian MotoGP.

Lacking acceleration, Marquez soon plummeted from third to sixth, with Morbidelli also trying to weave around the Gresini rider.

But the gap Morbidelli was aiming for, between Aleix Espargaro and Marquez, suddenly disappeared and the pair made contact, sending them both wide.

Marquez rejoined in 13th with Morbidelli down in 18th.

“When I arrived into Turn 1, Marc had a problem. I think he didn’t engage the front device or something, so he had a different speed,” said Morbidelli.

“He went on the left as I was going through, and we got tangled.

“But finally, nothing happened and I’m happy about that.”

In a race that saw little overtaking, Marquez gained nine places by the chequered flag with Morbidelli recovering ten positions.

“Recovering from 18th wasn’t easy. To overtake people here, it's complicated,” said Morbidelli.

 “Front tyre pressure goes sky high and the performance of everything decreases by a lot. But anyway we were able to catch up to eighth. So it was a positive race for us.

“In MotoGP, it’s becoming more and more difficult to overtake because the difference in performance between the bikes in a straight line is very small. And everybody is able to brake very deep, with the [ride height] devices the bikes have.

“But today I gained ten positions. In France again I gained ten or eleven position. So it's still do-able.

“I’m happy with the speed we had and with the feelings I experienced. I hope to qualify better in Aragon and in the following races.”