Franco Morbidelli will spend a night in hospital as a precaution after suffering 'a bad crash' during Superbike testing at Portimao, his Prima Pramac Racing MotoGP team have revealed.

The Italian - who joins the 2023 MotoGP Teams' title-winners this season - was one of 11 current or former GP riders who joined the unofficial Ducati-hosted WorldSBK test at Portimao over the past two days.

While the test was a chance for WorldSBK riders and teams to prepare for the start of the 2024 season in Australia in just over three weeks' time, it was also open to others to use the track using modified stock-specification sportsbikes too.

As such, Morbidelli joined a host of names from MotoGP, among them Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi, in spinning laps on upgraded roadgoing bikes on Monday and Tuesday.

However, on the second day of action Morbidelli suffered a spill from his Ducati Panigale V4 R, necessitating a red flag to clear debris and a trip to the medical centre.

From here, Pramac Racing have since revealed Morbidelli was taken to Faro Hospital for further checks and is being kept in overnight as a precaution.

The incident is set to hinder Morbidelli's preparations for the upcoming 2024 MotoGP season, which kicks off with the Qatar MotoGP on 8-10 March.

Indeed, while the opening round is still a month away, official MotoGP testing will begin on 10 February in Sepang, where Morbidelli will be keen to get good miles in on his new machinery having made the switch from Yamaha Racing to Prima Pramac Ducati over the winter.

The Italian - a three-time race winner in MotoGP - has only spent a single day on the Ducati GP24 at Valencia in November, where he set the 16th fastest time