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Morbidelli: “Someone needs to pay” for MotoGP horror crash
Franco Morbidelli says it’s become routine to brand collisions like his horrific shunt in the MotoGP Austrian GP a racing incident, but demands “someone needs to pay” for it.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Aug 18, 2020, 3:58 PM
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The Petronas SRT rider collided with the rear of Johann Zarco’s Avintia Ducati on the run through the fast Turn 2 kink during Sunday’s Red Bull Ring race, with both lucky to escape the violent crash unscathed.
The two machines also narrowly avoided wiping out the Yamaha’s of Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales in a sickening incident, which led to the race being halted. No action was taken on the crash, and it was deemed a racing incident, but Morbidelli took to Twitter to air his views on this.
“We will talk about it on Thursday, that’s for sure,” said Morbidelli. “I think that every time both riders crash it is a common habit to call it a racing incident and situation solved.
“But this ‘racing incident’ happened at 310km/h (192.6mph). Great luck we’re in one piece, but someone needs to pay [for] the mistake.”
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Morbidelli branded Zarco a “half killer” to Italian TV on Sunday, and said Zarco’s line under braking at that point showed “little love” for both riders.
Zarco appeared to move off line under braking as if to defend Morbidelli from coming up the inside of Turn 3, though the Frenchman denies this was the case and insists he is “not a crazy guy”.
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Zarco spoke with Valentino Rossi after the incident to explain his version of events and to show that what he did wasn’t deliberate. Rossi – who called his involvement in the incident “terrifying” – believes riders need to not “exaggerate” the aggression they are now showing in all classes of grand prix racing while racing.
Several riders were quick to point fingers, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro noting: “Every time you move from behind other riders, you have downforce, no downforce, downforce – the front is shaking, sometimes you have no brakes.
“It’s very, very difficult. But on the other hand, it’s always Zarco, it’s always Zarco [involved in incidents].”
LCR’s Cal Crutchlow was more measured, maintaining the stewards’ view: “I don't think anybody was in the wrong particularly, it's just a racing incident.”
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