Aprilia alarm at Aragon, Bezzecchi is worried: 'I have to survive

Physical condition not perfect for the Aprilia rider, forced to race a bit on the defensive at MotorLand as well: is a podium finish difficult?

At Silverstone he took two heroic podiums, considering the surgeries on his left collarbone and left knee that he had to undergo after the crash at the Sachsenring. Three weeks later in Aragon, what will he be able to do? The rider from Rimini is not yet at 100% and could also struggle this MotoGP weekend, which on paper seems favorable to Ducati due to the track characteristics.

Bezzecchi had a small setback after the Grand Prix in England and in the press conference at Aragon he explained his situation from a physical standpoint: "The race at Silverstone was great, but tough, and after the weekend I suffered quite a bit, especially with the knee, which takes a long time to heal. Riding on it isn’t the best painkiller. I gave my all at Silverstone and I’ll give my all here as well. I like the Aragon track, but Marc Marquez will be very fast, like all the other Ducati riders. I’ll try to survive".

The left collarbone doesn’t worry the Romagna rider too much, but the left knee is a real headache: "The shoulder is recovering fairly well, even if it’s not yet where I want it to be. In the end it was a collarbone injury, not extremely serious, even though the fracture was big. The surgery took a bit longer compared to other times I’ve had fractures, but the real problem is the knee, which is taking more time: fluid has built up inside, making it difficult to bend the leg and push on the foot. I’m doing everything I can to speed up healing, but I’ll have to suffer".

Bezzecchi was unable to provide a timeline for the healing of his left knee. It’s certainly positive that after the GP at Aragon there will be a week to rest before the Misano-Austria doubleheader, which could really put him to the test. For his world title chase, it’s not the ideal situation, but he’s used to never giving up and pushing through the pain. At MotorLand it should be more complicated to get on the podium, but his mission is to achieve the best possible result based on the potential he’ll have.

In the overall standings he is 31 points behind leader Jorge Martin, his teammate, who hopes to be able to beat the Ducatis and leave Aragon with a bigger advantage over his pursuers than he currently has. We need to wait for Friday’s practice sessions to start getting a sense of the pecking order on track.