VR46 MotoGP rider Franco Morbidelli says his surprise podium in the chaotic flag-to-flag Spanish Grand Prix sprint is dedicated “to the people who are suffering”.

The Italian struggled to 18th in a damp qualifying at Jerez on his 2025-spec Ducati and was out of the points in the early stages of Saturday’s sprint.

Franco Morbidelli was also lucky to avoid being caught up in a tangle between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Lorenzo Savadori with five laps of the 12-tour race to go.

The VR46 rider was among the first group that included sprint winner Marc Marquez to pit for wet tyres as the rain intensified, which vaulted Morbidelli to the podium.

“We needed and deserved” this podium

It’s a result that comes after a tough start to the 2026 campaign for Morbidelli, who is facing an uncertain future in MotoGP.

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Speaking in parc ferme, Morbidelli dedicated his result to those “who are thinking they have no chance”, in an increasingly personal statement.

“Crazy race. I was there behind the whole group and crazy things happened,” he said.

“And, yeah, I had the luck to go to the pitbox earlier than everybody. I followed Pecco [Bagnaia] and this amazing result came.

“I want to dedicate this result to the people who are suffering, who are thinking that they have no chance, just thinking that they are worse than everybody.

“My thoughts are with them. I think about them and I dedicate this kind of podium in that way… [people have been saying] ‘he has no chance, he cannot make the result, he has no speed, he has no whatever’.

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“And here we are. I’m really pleased. I thank everybody inside the team and I dedicate this podium to the people who are suffering.”

He later added: “I’m very pleased with the performance. It was amazing to recover from P18 and then get to the podium was really good.

“It was something we needed and deserved, I think, because we did a great job, even if it doesn’t look like it.

“We did a great job from yesterday and we went through many things. I’m struggling big time.

“I’m not having the right feeling on the bike and the team and Ducati is working big time to give me back a good feeling.

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“And then such results are something that we really need and something that we really deserve.”

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