To secure fifth place at the MotoGP Japanese GP, Franco Morbidelli had to battle Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) after spending several laps trying to overtake the South African rider.
The Italian was behind Binder from laps 10 to 21 of the main race, only gaining the position on the 22nd lap out of 24, despite riding a Ducati Desmosedici GP24, currently the most competitive bike on the grid.
Morbidelli explained that aside from the challenges of overtaking at a circuit like Motegi, this track is particularly favorable for KTM, as shown by the competitiveness of the RC16 bikes throughout the weekend:
– It’s really hard to pass, and they were really fast this weekend. This tracks seems tailor-made for them, it’s a stop-and-go track. On Friday, Brad was first, on Saturday Pedro [Acosta] was first, so the bike is very, very fast.