Although Pramac Ducati rider Morbidelli started Sunday’s Portimao three positions ahead of Mir in 17th, a poor getaway dropped him into the clutches of his Honda rival through the opening sequence of corners.
As they battled for position, Morbidelli made contact with Mir in an incident not captured on TV, sending the Spaniard wide and dropping him to 21st position.
Although the factory Honda rider was able to recover to 12th place, aided by three leading riders (Francesco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez and Maverick Vinales) crashing in the last three laps, he felt Morbidelli was simply too aggressive given the position he was running in.
“On the first lap I was there overtaking but quite on the position,” said the 2020 champion. “In that position you have to stay a bit calm in the first laps.
“This is the reality because it's a big race and there are a lot of bikes in front of you and you have to be a bit clever, no? Morbidelli wasn't.
“He just came to me. He hit me with a lot of speed. I went out of the track at Turn 8 and my race was a little bit compromised for this problem.”
Mir revealed that his Honda was heavily damaged from contact with Morbidelli, which affected both his braking as well as his stability through the corners.
“The rear part of the bike, the wing tail and all these things were gone,” he said.
Source: Autosport