FRANCO MORBIDELLI HIT WITH LONG LAP PENALTY FOR SLOW RIDING AT MISANO

Franco Morbidelli’s home Misano weekend was hit by a penalty that will shape his Sunday MotoGP race. After posting fifth place in Friday practice for his final home event with VR46 Ducati, the Italian was handed a long lap penalty for the grand prix.

The VR46 rider was again found to be “riding slowly online disturbing another rider,” this time identified as Enea Bastianini at Turn 13 during the early afternoon session. In the stewards’ decision, the FIM MotoGP Stewards referenced the penalty protocols and classified the incident as MGP-SR3: “Dangerous slow riding during any session.” The notice added that, considering Morbidelli’s “multiple offences during the season,” the appropriate punishment in this case was a long lap penalty.

Importantly for the race format, the sanction applies only to Sunday’s grand prix and not to the Sprint.

Morbidelli’s Misano comments came before the penalty was announced. He said his bike feel was broadly familiar: “My sensations on the bike are similar to usual.” With the track being close to home and one he knows well, he added: “Here it's the home track, so I know very well Misano, so I try to give even more.”

On his practice performance, Morbidelli explained that he struggled to get everything together on the first attempt but improved on the second: “I couldn't make the first time attack, couldn't stay on track, but then in the second one, I managed to stay on track and did a 31.4.” He also admitted he does not currently have a lot of confidence, while still taking positives from the lap time: “I don't have a lot of confidence, but sometimes I'm quick even though I don't have confidence, so that's positive, I'll take it.”

The penalty comes against a backdrop of major career movement. Morbidelli has lost his VR46 Ducati seat to Nicolo Bulega for 2027, and he is expected to effectively swap places with the WorldSBK title leader by joining Aruba.it Ducati.