Franco Morbidelli suffered a neck injury in a serious crash in Jerez – but the VR46 rider still wants to race at Le Mans
Good news from Franco Morbidelli. As his VR46 team confirmed on Tuesday, the Italian will be able to compete in this weekend’s French Grand Prix, which traditionally takes place at Le Mans.
Morbidelli crashed in the fast turn 11 at the Spanish Grand Prix. No replay of the accident was shown on television. Fan videos show Morbidelli initially lying in the gravel trap, apparently unconscious at first.
Marshals placed the Italian on a stretcher and took him behind the crash barriers to the ambulance. After treatment at the medical center, VR46 announced that Morbidelli had suffered a neck contusion in the crash, which will be monitored further.
It was his second serious crash during the Jerez race weekend. On Saturday morning, he crashed in the fast Turn 4. As a result of the crash in the race, the 30-year-old did not take part in Monday’s test.
Morbidelli posted on his Instagram profile immediately after the crash: “Two heavy crashes. Hopefully everything is okay. We will clarify this together with the doctors during the week. I am confident that I will be ready for Le Mans.”
Since then, Morbidelli has been working on his recovery with physiotherapy. He will be examined by the MotoGP doctors on Thursday. They must give him the green light to participate in the race weekend in Le Mans.
“As far as my physical condition is concerned, I feel better, but I want to wait and see how it feels on the bike,” Morbidelli is quoted as saying in the VR46 press release. ”Le Mans is another very important race for us.”
“We want to continue our strong pace, so the goal is to put in a really good performance there. I like the track, and last year I had a nice comeback in the main race. So I’m looking forward to the upcoming weekend with confidence.“
”I’m looking forward to implementing our planned work program with focus and completing both races in the best possible way.”
Morbidelli won the Moto2 race at Le Mans in 2017. His best results in MotoGP there are two seventh places, one of which was last year.
