P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Morbidelli: Still unclear what caused "strange" crash ahead of MotoGP season
Following his switch from Yamaha over the winter, Morbidelli was preparing for the new season on the Ducati V4 Panigale road bike when he had a crash at Turn 9, suffering a big blow to his head. The Italian rider had to be taken to a hospital for check-ups, where doctors discovered a small clot had developed in his head. Due to the lengthy recovery period that followed, Morbidelli was forced to miss both pre-season tests at Sepang and Losail, putting him on the back foot for this weekend’s opening round in Qatar. Speaking to the media for the first time since his Portimao fall in January, Morbidelli said he doesn’t have a proper recollection of what exactly ensued in the moments before and after the crash. Morbidelli was reportedly found lying unconscious on the track by Ducati stablemate Marc Marquez, who was the first to arrive on the scene of the incident at Turn 9 before the medical crews were able to attend to him. For the first time since 2019, Morbidelli will ride a bike other than the Yamaha M1, having split with the Japanese manufacturer at the end of a difficult 2023 campaign to join forces with the Pramac Ducati squad. Morbidelli admitted that he ended up missing what he considers the “most important” pre-season testing phase of his career due to the head injury, and is aware of the time constraints he faces at the start of the year.
