Franco Morbidelli will beꦇ happy to return to Portimao in just under two weeks time where he finished third last season after a tough double header in Losail. 

The Italian who remains on the year old spec M1 Yamaha, was unable t♕o showcase the form that became a constant in 2020 and saw him finish as title runner-up. 

After suffering some mechanical issues throughout Friday and only tenth place in qualifying, Morbidelli finished the race in 12th position, which comes after a🦂 no score 𒁃in the opening round. 

When sum𒆙ming up his time in Qatar, Morbidelli said: "A difficult 10 days here in Doha. We stru💛ggled to understand well how the package was working. 

"This morning we did a big modification. We went back to a configuration similar to 2020 at the beginning for tꦦhe year. In the race it was better than the last one for sure. I was engaged and able to fight.🎶 

"Starti🐷ng from 10th position and not having the fastest bike on the pack was really tough to fight. At least I had the chance to do it. 

"Then the problems, similar problems to the beginning of 2020 came. I finisꦡhed the tyre too soon and I wasn’t able to be consistent and fast all race."

In the risk that tyre chat starts to dominate the topic of discussion💃, let’s reme🤪mber that Qatar is a very tyre specific circuit, and as the riders head to Europe this should become slightly less relevant at certain circuits. 

A positive however for Morbidelli, was the fac𝔍t this was an improved area from race one to race two.&nꦓbsp;

Morbidelli said: "We imp🐎roved this compared to the last race. I improved the feeling compared to the previous 9 days. That’s a good thing. 

"Of course it’s not what we want but it’s a good thi꧙ng. Have to be positive and that is why we were able to improve the feeling.&nb🌌sp;

"A bit worrying but that’s what helped us today andꦍ w☂hat was useful today. We made the right choices, I would say."