Franco Morbidelli: "The pain was not too much" - but he knows it could get worse
Franco Morbidelli says the pain from his Sachsenring shoulder injury was bearable during recent superbike outings ahead of Austrian MotoGP comeback.
After missing the Czech MotoGP weekend due to a shoulder injury sustained in the wet Sachsenring Sprint, Franco Morbidelli used the summer break to rebuild fitness for his return to action at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix.
The Italian tested the strength of his left collarbone during superbike sessions alongside fellow Ducati MotoGP riders at Balaton Park, host of the Hungarian round in just over a week, as well as at his local Misano circuit.
Morbidelli said the pain on a superbike was manageable but acknowledged that riding a Desmosedici is “something else”. He will still need to pass Thursday’s mandatory medical check before lining up at the Red Bull Ring.
“I really want to jump back on the MotoGP bike,” Morbidelli said. “After the injury, I trained with the Ducati Panigale in Hungary and in Misano.
“At Balaton it went well, the pain was not too much, and we adapted well to the new track. It was a very positive day and gave us a big boost of energy to continue our recovery and preparation for the second half of the championship.
“The Desmosedici GP is something else, we will arrive in Austria and see how I am doing, and we will try to improve little by little.
“We will take everything in the right way to try to do the best job possible. I cannot wait to get back to work with the team and do what we love, which is to give our maximum every weekend.”
Morbidelli’s absence from the last two rounds has dropped him to sixth in the world championship with 139 points.
Fabio di Giannantonio: "We always struggle at Spielberg"
That is just three behind VR46 team-mate Fabio di Giannantonio, who crashed from second in the German Grand Prix then endured an off-pace weekend in Brno.
di Giannantonio missed last year’s Austrian races due to shoulder injury of his own, which he nursed until stepping away from the final rounds of the season to undergo surgery.
Like Morbidelli (GP24), di Giannantonio has taken two third places so far this season with his factory-spec GP25.
“The summer break went well; we needed a pause in this first half of the season because that is the longest campaign ever for us,” di Giannantonio said.
“I trained a lot to prepare for the second part of the championship. We are ready, we are back to action in Austria, then we go to Hungary.
“Both tracks will be challenging. We have always struggled at Spielberg, while Balaton is a new circuit for everyone, even if we had the chance to make a test with the Panigale V4.
“We bring all this summer break energy with us to make a good job and restart well from the beginning.”
di Giannantonio begins the Austrian weekend 14 points behind fourth-placed Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia).
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
