MotoGP Mandalika February Testing
Morbidelli: MotoGP riders cleaning dirty tracks is dangerous
Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli says MotoGP riders “are not supposed to clean” tracks and doing so is “f****** dangerous”, following dirt issues on Friday at the Mandalika test in Indonesia.
Lewis Duncan Oriol P
Edited: Feb 14, 2022, 5:10 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Friday’s first MotoGP action in Indonesia since 1997 was halted for well over an hour in the morning due to the amount of dirt on circuit following earlier rain.
The stoppage was called to allow for track workers to sweep the surface, while a meeting was held between riders, Dorna Sports and the FIM’s safety officer Franco Uncini to find a solution.
Riders were asked to complete a minimum of 20 laps each to try and help clean the surface, which was met with criticism from some.
The session was able to run through to the chequered flag as lap times improved significantly, though only Honda’s Pol Espargaro was able to dip underneath the existing World Superbike lap record of 1m32.882s with his 1m32.466s.
Morbidelli was unhappy that riders were used as track cleaners, while applauding Ducati riders for leading the effort.
When asked by Motorsport.com if riders needed more unity on these types of matters, Morbidelli – who was 12th-fastest on Friday – said: “The fact is that the rider is not supposed to do this job, they are not supposed to clean this track.
“It’s dangerous to ride on dirt with a MotoGP bike. It’s f****** dangerous, it’s dangerous. Nobody wants to go out on track.
“The Ducati is a bike that has a lot of grip, also today I think we’ve seen once more – if you try to read through what happened today – we’ve seen the difference between the bikes. We saw many Ducati riders ride when there was dirt on the track.
“They decided it was safe enough to go out there and clean the track, while for some other riders this was not the case. They waited a little bit longer, but luckily some Ducati riders, some KTM riders went out on track, which – according to me – are the bikes with the most mechanical grip.
“But to decide together ‘hey guys, let’s go out on track together’ some of them are going to be afraid because their package is not as grippy as some other guys.”
Franco Morbidelli, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
RNF Racing Yamaha’s Andrea Dovizioso says the conditions faced on Friday “weren’t acceptable”, but concedes it was “the right decision” to send riders out to clean the circuit.
“The situation for sure wasn’t ideal, it was too dusty,” the Italian said. “It wasn’t acceptable the conditions, we couldn’t ride.
“We had to ride because it was fortunately the right decision to do it, because at the end we created a really narrow line. But in that line you can push, you can understand the line of the track because you have the right speed in the middle of the corner.
“So, overall it was good to take that decision. Before the meeting, nobody wanted to ride because it was really unrideable.
“But at the end it was the right decision. The problem was the asphalt lost stones, so when you are behind a rider everywhere you were hit by stones. It's not the best.”
Read Also:
- MotoGP Mandalika test: Espargaro fastest after track problems
- Marquez "felt something special" in MotoGP test
- Miller critical of "arrogant" Espargaro after MotoGP test spat
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Marquez "felt something special" in MotoGP test
Next article Riders say Mandalika MotoGP circuit is "strange, characterful"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Duncan
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
MotoGP
MotoGP Sep 19, 2024
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
Jul 5, 2024
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
Jul 5, 2024
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
More from
Franco Morbidelli
The five riders leaving MotoGP in 2027 - and where they are headed next
MotoGP
MotoGP 1 mo
The five riders leaving MotoGP in 2027 - and where they are headed next
VR46 signs Nicolo Bulega for 2027 MotoGP season
MotoGP
MotoGP 1 mo
VR46 signs Nicolo Bulega for 2027 MotoGP season
Five MotoGP riders who need a big 2026 season
MotoGP
Five MotoGP riders who need a big 2026 season
Latest news
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
WCEE GT World Challenge Europe Endurance 3 h
Max Verstappen on GTWC Europe debut: “We’re here to win”
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
3 h
How to watch NASCAR at Phoenix II: Weekend schedule, start time, entry list, TV
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
4 h
Ryan Ellis signs multi-year NASCAR O'Reilly deal with Alpha Prime Racing
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
10 h
Ayao Komatsu: Rafael Camara chosen for F1 2027 seat on speed, not Ferrari links
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe