Morbidelli becomes a repeat winner in 2020 to set up Yamaha’s title headache
MOTOGP
MOTORLAND ARAGON (ESP) 25 OCTOBER
ROUND 11/14
Only two riders have won multiple Motogp races in 2020, and both come from the same Sepang Racing Team. Fabio Quartararo’s
July Jerez double in the opening two rounds of the season set him up for the title domination many thought was likely in the absence of the injured Marc Marquez.
Despite notching up a third triumph in Barcelona, the French rider’s form went missing across the recent Aragon doubleheader. He was a lowly 18th in the first race earlier this month, and then last Sunday’s struggle to eighth means he’s now 14 points behind championship leader Joan Mir.
While Quartararo didn’t ever look like a victory threat at the Motorland track, his factory Yamaha counterpart Maverick Vinales did, until tyre troubles on his M1 meant fourth and seventh were his return.
After dominating the Teruel race, Franco Morbidelli – although essentially riding the 2019 M1 for SRT – is just 25 points off the top and the spread among the Yamahas is only 11 points. Serious questions now need to be asked as to who the manufacturer’s best hope for the title is.
Morbidelli was the best-placed Yamaha in qualifying in second, but no one was better than Takaaki Nakagami on the year-old
LCR Honda across the weekend. Ending a 16-year wait for a Japanese polesitter in Motogp, there were few on the grid who didn’t believe he’d also bring the 16-year wait for a Japanese win to an end on Sunday.
But this “incredible pressure” weighed heavily on Nakagami, and his first race from pole lasted just five corners. A “stupid mistake” on the brakes at Turn 5 on the opening lap proved a cruel end to an otherwise perfect weekend.
This released Morbidelli into the lead. Joking he’d eaten “dynamite for breakfast”, the Italian fired in an incredible run of low-mid 1m48s laps. Having slipped back from fourth to sixth in the first Aragon race as his soft rear tyre faded, Morbidelli made a last-minute change to the medium rear last Sunday. This proved inspired as it allowed him to deploy the “all or nothing” tactic he knew he needed if he wanted to strengthen his championship hopes.
Aragon GP winner Alex Rins ran with Morbidelli in the early laps, the gap between the Suzuki rider and Morbidelli hovering around the half-second mark. But Rins’ soft rubber began to fade and the “unstoppable” Morbidelli soon stretched his legs.
Opening his lead to over six tenths on lap 16, it was 1.074s after lap 18 and continued to climb to 2.2s as he eased to the flag.
Rins’ podium in second edges him closer to team-mate Mir in the standings, with his gap a not insurmountable 32 points. Mir could only manage 12th in qualifying and paid for it. His ascension through the field wasn’t as rapid as Rins’ the week prior and, by the time he got up to third ahead of Johann Zarco, the top two were 2.6s up the road. Third was the maximum for Mir, but
it opened up his points lead.
Quartararo felt like he’d found something in the warm-up session, but “lost everything” from his tyres early on and was lucky to hold onto eighth. Vinales had similar tyre drop-off as well as chatter problems and ended up just 0.5s ahead in seventh, having felt like he could be “a great fighter” in the race after qualifying fourth.
Pol Espargaro on the KTM, Avintia’s
Zarco and Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira all passed the pair to fill out the top six, while Tech3 rookie Iker Lecuona and Danilo Petrucci rounded out the top 10.
Petrucci recovered from 19th on the grid amid another dismal Aragon weekend for Ducati, with Andrea Dovizioso 17th on Saturday. A late mistake and chewed up Michelin rubber meant the Italian could only salvage 13th. Though still only 28 points from the championship lead, he admits he can’t even think about the title with his current form.
Morbidelli says his mindset has been
“full attack” during this double-header. Dismissing suggestions he was out of the hunt on Saturday, he’s firmly “back in the game” with just three rounds to go.
Mir’s ultra-consistency has rightfully earned him the favourite tag with most throughout the paddock. But, with good Yamaha tracks to end the season, Morbidelli’s approach could quickly reverse those fortunes if he delivers more Teruel-type displays.