After teammate Alex Marquez bolted off the line at the British GP, Championship leader Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was able to reel him back in – but then found himself struggling in the latter half of the race. After Marquez crashed out, the race was on to keep himself in podium contention as Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) went on the offensive. But the points leader did just that, taking P3 at the flag and crucially one place ahead of key rival Tom Lüthi (CarXpert Interwetten).
Franco Morbidelli, P3: “I was able to catch Alex, he had a great start and we were both very fast. After his crash, or a bit before, I was struggling. I wasn’t fast and I wasn’t feeling good. Then I just had to defend myself. I was hoping to get on the podium and finally we did, and we go to MIsano with good confidence. It’s my home race and it will be important for me to be fast there because I never have been in home races. We have to continue to attack because this is a Championship where anything can happen. So I’ll continue to attack and we’ll see what goes on.”