Bezzecchi has no illusions, this Aprilia isn’t enough: “Here’s what we need to improve.”

The fastest of all on Friday at the Misano GP, but the Aprilia rider isn’t letting his guard down: he knows what he has to do to give himself a dream weekend.

Second-fastest in FP1 and quickest in the Pre-Qualifying sessions, not a bad opening day at Misano World Circuit for Marco Bezzecchi. A return to victory seems possible, even if it’s too early to get carried away—there’s still work to do to fine-tune his Aprilia RS-GP26. Although he was fast both on a single lap and on race pace, the rider from Rimini has room to improve in a few sections of the track. In addition, the team will need to figure out how to make a bike more stable that, in some situations, really moves around a lot.

Bezzecchi said he was fairly satisfied with his Friday at Misano, though he highlighted the need to make progress: "It was a good day, he told Sky Sport MotoGP, we were quick right away, the goal was to start well and then improve in the afternoon. We also managed to go straight into Q2, which makes me happy for today. It was tough, there are still plenty of things to sort out both on the bike and in my riding. I’ve got a lot of movement, the bike is very nervous, we’ve got work to do."

The Romagna rider doesn’t feel ready yet, especially in sectors 2 and 4, where he feels he needs to take a step forward. In the recent past, using the soft rear tire caused the Aprilia to move around, but at Misano even the medium has the same effect: "Generally, Bez explains, our bike moves more on tracks where there’s grip, and here at Misano there’s a lot of it, which complicates things in certain phases of riding. We struggle with the soft, but actually with the medium too. We need to work on stability and sort out those movements we have especially in the fast part of the track that make riding difficult in critical points."

Marc Marquez stated he feels inferior in terms of race pace, but Bezzecchi doesn’t buy it and points to him as the rider to beat: "He was super quick in the morning and also in the afternoon, where he did one less time attack. I expect him to be the favorite tomorrow."

Let’s not forget that the Rimini rider’s left knee is far from optimal and is preventing him from riding at his best: "I wake up feeling fine, but after four laps I’m back to the same sensations I had at the last Grand Prix. Unfortunately, it’s a battle I’ll have to carry on for a while longer. In the afternoon I had to take a painkiller, just to be safe. I’m still not right."