Franco Morbidelli delivers honest reaction to punishment at Thai MotoGP

Franco Morbidelli has fronted up after he was punished for an incident in practice for the Thailand MotoGP.

VR46 rider Morbidelli has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for Sunday’s grand prix at Buriram.

Morbidelli was cruising on the racing line at Turn 5 and caused Francesco Bagnaia to abandon his last shot to qualify for Q2.

The VR46 rider, who was fifth on Friday overall, feels the penalty is fair but says he backed off because others in front of him did the same after passing through the Turn 3 site where Marco Bezzechi has crashed.

Franco Morbidelli: Thai MotoGP penalty 'fair'

“Good day, but left with a bad taste in my mount because I got a penalty for the episode with Pecco,” Morbidelli said.

“So, both flavours: very sweet and very bitter.

“It was fair [the penalty]. The episode, a dangerous episode actually happened with me even though there were many things behind it.

“I was coming hot, I was coming red helmet [fastest sector] - actually big time red helmet - and when I arrived in Turn 3 there was still [Marco] Bezzecchi’s bike, they were still picking up Bez’s bike.

“There were no yellow flags, but the two riders in front of me slowed down big time at Turn 4, and when I arrived in Turn 4 I saw them going slow - seven and five seconds in that sector slower than usual.

“So, I also slowed down. And when I slowed down I turned back and when I turned back Pecco was coming straight away. And he didn’t slow down because that lap time was vital for him to go into Q2.

“So, that dangerous episode is with me because anything could have happened. I could have slowed down even more, maybe we could have touched. So, it’s a fair penalty.”

He added: “It’s going to be three grid positions for Sunday’s race, which forces us to attack big time for the first three positions for tomorrow’s qualifying. So, let’s see what we can do.”

Asked by Crash.net if there should still have been a yellow flag waving, Morbidelli said: “Well, the danger was there but actually it was going away. It was on the limit, it was a 50/50 situation.

“10 seconds, five seconds sooner there would have still be yellow flags. Five seconds later, there would have been no yellow flags when we passed through.

“So, it was very much an on-the-limit situation. It’s nobody’s fault, it’s MotoGP.”

Quotes provided by Crash MotoGP Editor Peter McLaren