Bezzecchi (1st) on track for his Misano mission: “I can still improve”

World Championship bronze medallist Marco Bezzecchi did everything he could on the first day of testing at Misano to secure the best possible starting position for the two races on home soil. Even in the first session on his home circuit, which hadn’t yet warmed up fully, the rider from Rimini rode flawlessly – and fast. Without going all out, the number 72 rider secured second place. Nevertheless, it was Marc Marquez of all people who had come out on top in FP1, albeit by just 0.06 seconds.

With his mentor Valentino Rossi, who had by then travelled to Misano, watching on, Bezzecchi continued to improve in the crucial qualifying session. Bezzecchi took a very systematic approach. He followed up an initial run with a fast 1:31-minute time on medium tyres with a mini race simulation featuring almost identical fast laps.

In the final stages of the session, Bezzecchi pushed himself to the limit, driving the RS-GP closer and closer to its limits. As had been the case that morning, the lead changed hands several times, passing once again to rival Marc Marquez. But in the final sprint, Bezzecchi struck with the greatest precision: 1:30.144 mins. With that, the local hero had come within a tenth of a second of the lap record, whilst ‘Bez’ had also secured his lead over the rest of the field by 0.1 seconds. Quite a statement – especially given that positions 2–10 were then bunched together within 0.4 seconds.

Marco Bezzecchi überzeugte auf seiner Heimstrecke

Foto: Gold and Goose

Bezzecchi was understandably pleased with his position after Day 1. “It was a good start to the event, and we were able to complete our programme as planned.” Bezzecchi is focusing on his own tasks; he did not glance over at the Ducati Lenovo pit or at Marc Marquez. Nevertheless, the Italians’ rising star remarked: “We’ve found a good foundation – but now we need to put that into practice and take the next step on Saturday. We’re on the right track, but I can still see several areas where I can improve – my riding itself, but also in terms of the bike.”

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When asked about the extensive tyre testing, Valentino Rossi’s former protégé kept his cards close to his chest: “I’ve already raced here on the soft tyres. That works and is therefore an option – but the medium compound is also a possibility.” Furthermore, the Italian was reluctant to draw comparisons with the formidable 2025 bike, on which he narrowly missed out on GP victory at Misano: “I’m approaching this just as I always do – I’m going into it without any particular expectations and trying to think as little as possible about what might happen.”

At the other end of the top 10, who made it straight through to Q2, was his team-mate Jorge Martín. The Spaniard, who lies 24 points ahead of Bezzecchi in the World Championship standings, was 0.546 seconds off the pace on the identically specified factory Aprilia. With Marc Márquez in second place, everything points to the top three in the World Championship standings closing the gap even further at the San Marino GP.