Marco Bezzecchi
The Italian Grand Prix offered another instalment of the tense battle between Maverick Vinales and Franco Morbidelli.
It was the latter who provoked the contact in Mugello, which sent Vinales spearing into the gravel and out of the race.
Immediately, the Tech3 rider made a gesture to cameras, which revealed his displeasure at the over-ambitious and aggressive overtake attempt.
Morbidelli was handed a long-lap penalty, which he failed to serve successfully the first time around, before crawling to a sixth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix.
Just a few weeks ago, Morbidelli called out Marc Marquez, but this weekend, it’s his turn to be criticised, after another poor move on a rival.
Sylvain Guintoli already spotted a ‘dangerous’ incident at Silverstone after the Italian rider got in the way of Marco Bezzecchi, before clashing with Vinales again in the race. It has been a common theme.
Fans campaign for Franco Morbidelli race ban after ‘typical’ Italian Grand Prix crash
Vinales and Morbidelli crashed at Silverstone before a red flag allowed them both back into the race. They have also collided in 2019, 2020 and 2022 on separate occasions. They have history.
But it appears that fans may have had enough of the instigator of today’s incident, taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to complain.
“Typical Morbidelli,” said one fan.
“Time to retire grandpa,” wrote another, while someone else analysed the manoeuvre a bit closer, “Literally not even trying to pass, just rides through him.”
The severity of the punishment has also come into question, with another fan saying, “Wonder if they need to have a slightly stronger penalty for these, Vinales is off out of the race and I’m not sure it’s enough. Perhaps worth considering.”
While someone else had a stronger stance and said, “[He] should miss a race, needs to learn he can’t carry on like he is.”
And finally, the last response clamped down on the idea of a ban, “Race ban and fine required.”
READ MORE: Best moments of Maverick Vinales’ MotoGP career including first win, pole, Sprint win and more
How would a one-race MotoGP ban affect Franco Morbidelli?
If Morbidelli were to be handed a one-race ban for his antics, he would miss the next round of the season – the 10th event of the year in the Netherlands.
It would leave VR46 in the tricky position of having to replace him. Ducati’s Michele Pirro would be in line to come in and take his seat.
With his contract expiring at the end of the season, Morbidelli hasn’t done himself any favours by causing another crash.
It has cost his team points and on home soil, it won’t have looked particularly impressive in front of boss Valentino Rossi.
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