Sixth at test completes Morbidelli's best weekend

Franco Morbidelli topped off his most successful weekend as a MotoGP rider by setting the sixth fastest lap time in Monday's official Jerez test.

The Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider took a best yet ninth place in the Spanish Grand Prix, propelling him to the top of the Rookie of the Year standings.

Morbidelli then spent the test refining the set-up of his RC213V, focussing on rear traction through different suspension settings.

"Today was a positive test for us," said Morbidelli, whose best lap was 0.558s from test leader Johann Zarco. "We tried some changes to the bike that we didn't have time to test over the race weekend and the results were good.

"We spent a lot of time on used tyres, working on the rear suspension settings to improve grip and we made some progress. A good test where I was able to work well with my crew and now I'm looking forward to the next race in Le Mans."

"Franco rounded off a very successful weekend, his best so far in MotoGP, by making another step forward with the bike and this will stand him in good stead next week in Le Mans," added team principal Michael Bartholemy.

Team-mate and fellow rookie Thomas Luthi had a more eventful Monday, suffering a high-speed crash without injury at turn four late in the day. The Swiss, who also fell in the race, set the 15th fastest lap of the test (+1.9s from Zarco) but was denied a run on new tyres.

"We made some changes to the front of the bike today and this was very, very interesting," Luthi said. "We definitely made a step forward compared to where we were for the race so it's a pity that the crash meant I wasn't able to confirm the new settings on new tyres.

"The feeling was good, definitely better, and my pace was quicker than in the race yesterday, but we will need to confirm the same on the soft tyre next week in Le Mans. Overall a positive day but also a shame that I was too sore to continue after the crash."

"Tom and his crew tried some fairly big changes today in a bid to improve his feeling and confidence in the front," confirmed Bartholemy. "It looks as if they have made a significant improvement but we decided to stop the test early following Tom's crash, so we will need to confirm everything in Le Mans during free practice."