Bezzecchi swallows a bitter pill in Catalunya: "What a poor showing"

On MotoGP Saturday in Barcelona, Aprilia has to hit the brakes. Marco Bezzecchi has to settle for ninth place, while his garage mate Jorge Martin suffers another crash. The best result for the Noale brand bears the signature of Raul Fernandez, fourth. On Sunday, the championship leader will try to reverse course in a weekend that started uphill.

The MotoGP Sprint in Catalunya shows that Aprilia is not the unbeatable giant everyone thought it was just a few days ago. Everything can change depending on the track, external conditions, and the feeling with the bike. For Ducati, it can be a morale boost, even without its champion Marc Marquez. Alex Marquez on the Gresini team’s GP26 takes care of winning Saturday’s sprint race. For Bezzecchi, however, this could be a Grand Prix to forget.

The VR46 Academy rider qualified twelfth after a crash in Q2; in the Sprint he managed to score only one point, after showing a drop in pace halfway through the race. Jorge Martin, his main rival in the title fight, suffered his fourth crash in just two days while running in fifth place. All in all, 'Bez' benefits from this situation, even if there is now concern about Ducati’s resurgence.

Looking ahead to today’s race, the Aprilia crew will have their hands full preparing the best RS-GP to carve through the curves of Montmeló. "It was a bit of a complicated day. The crash wasn’t necessary, but it was a mistake I honestly didn’t expect, because it was already my second time attack. I thought the front tire was a bit more ready, but it betrayed me right away, it let me down. And that’s where things got a bit complicated."

Despite starting from the back, the provisional MotoGP leader got off to a good start, climbing up to sixth place. Then tire wear prevented him from clinging to the leading group. "I started to suffer and I lost all the positions I had gained, until even Bestia passed me. Then, luckily, Bastianini made a mistake, so in the end I overtook him again, although it’s a small consolation."

The curtain falls on Catalan Saturday: for Marco, just a single point in the standings that almost tastes like a slap in the face. "I’m the one struggling on this circuit, especially today, because yesterday I was doing better. So I don’t think it’s the bike that’s suffering," Bezzecchi concluded. "There will definitely be work to do, because today we made a bad impression, but I’m sure we can do well. I’m staying positive, the guys always work at 200%, and so do I. So the only thing we can do is give our all tomorrow and try to turn the situation around."

If you enjoy Corsedimoto’s content, you can select it as a preferred source by clicking here