Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli finished 13th in the Czech Republic Grand Prix with a determined Tom Luthi coming in 16th position.

While the heat wave weather eased for the race with track temperatures down to a bearable 41 degrees the on-track action was close and fast at the 5.4km Brno circuit.

Morbidelli was back in the points with a classy performance now that he is fully recovered from the fractured left hand that forced him to miss the German GP.

After losing a couple of positions in the opening laps Morbidelli played a waiting game before consolidating 13th place over the final ten laps.

For Luthi finishing 16th was a deserving reward after losing time on the opening lap after starting from 21st on the grid. At the finish Luthi was just one position out of the points and equalled his previous results this season at Le Mans and Qatar.

Franco Morbidelli: 13th

“I’m happy to get this position today although I had to recover some positions after a poor start. I was actually a little scared on the opening lap with the behaviour of some riders but then everything became calmer. In the second half of the race I just concentrated on holding my position behind Jack Miller, I was losing the front in some corners, so this is a good result on my comeback from injury.”

Tom Luthi: 16th

“It was a good race apart from a couple of mistakes I made on the first lap and then lost too much time behind Sylvain Guintoli to have a chance trying to be with Alien Espargaro who finished 15th. But my rhythm was consistent and I was closer to the top guys than in recent races so this was positive.”