Aprilia rider Bezzecchi raves about Motegi: “As smooth as a snooker table”

Hard to believe, but true: no MotoGP rider has ever finished on the podium at the Japanese Grand Prix on an Aprilia. The Japanese riders are refusing to acknowledge this, however, and are all backing Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura. Whilst things didn’t go to plan for the Japanese rider at the start, and Raul Fernandez on the second customer Aprilia also missed out on Q2, the Aprilia works team enjoyed a promising start.

As early as FP1, Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi had made a very good debut with second and third places respectively, a form that continued into the crucial qualifying session. Marco Bezzecchi, third in the World Championship standings behind Martin and champion Marc Marquez, set the pace for much of the one-hour session. The curly-haired rider improved the fastest time on several occasions and, despite the margins being extremely tight, Bezzecchi was recorded in P1 until five minutes before the end.

But in the final flurry of fast laps, ‘Bez’ was overtaken three times in quick succession. First, Spielberg winner Acosta took the lead, followed by the Marquez brothers. Trailing Alex Marquez by 0.21 seconds, the number 72 rider held on to fourth place – which, from his perspective, was a huge success. This meant Bezzecchi was more than three tenths of a second faster than he had been in Q2 12 months ago.

Aprilia-Werksfahrer Marco Bezzecchi fiel im Finale von 1 auf 4 zurück

Foto: Gold and Goose

In the Aprilia factory rider’s debrief, the focus was primarily on the condition of the track. Bezzecchi, his eyes sparkling: “The new surface is incredible. As smooth as a snooker table. It’s a masterpiece of precision – typically Japanese. Just experiencing that today was something special in itself.”

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Optical illusion

However, right at the start of the day, Bezzecchi also discovered a quirk of the new surface. It was only by sheer luck that he managed to avoid a crash after a massive skid. ‘Bez’ reported: ‘In the morning, during the first few minutes, there was a very light drizzle in the air – yet the track was completely dry. When I reached Turn 11, the dark colour of the new tarmac made me unsure whether it was dry – and it was slightly wet. That was a close call – and could easily have ended in a crash.”

Bezzecchi’s verdict after Day 1: “It was a great day because everything went to plan. FP1, qualifying and the two timed sessions went off without a hitch. I’m right up there!” The Italian was referring to his fellow riders around him. “It’s no surprise that Alex is up there at the front; he’s well known for being very good on the brakes. The same goes for Pedro, who was already really fast here as a rookie. And Marc’s always up there anyway,” said Bezzecchi, who finished fourth in 2025 and now has a realistic chance of achieving his ‘podium’ mission.

There’s confidence on the other side of the garage too. Jorge Martin, in eighth place, also secured a direct place in the second qualifying session.