Bezzecchi in 3rd place: “So close behind the Marquez brothers – very good”

That said, Marco Bezzecchi remained true to form on Saturday at the MotoGP event in Aragon. The Aprilia factory rider had finished in the top three in every session so far. Bezzecchi’s performance in Q2 was crowned by two fabulous laps. For the time being, the emotional victory went to the rider from Rimini – who also lies ahead of Marc Marquez in the World Championship standings.

Over the short distance at Aragon, however, the tide turned rapidly, even though the pole-sitter had accelerated flawlessly from P1. Marc Marquez closed the gap over those few metres with a risky but controlled, top-class braking manoeuvre into Turn 1 – Bezzecchi strayed half a metre off his ideal line and was immediately relegated to third place by Alex Marquez.

After eleven laps, during which Bezzecchi never had a chance to fight his way back to first place, ‘Bez’ nevertheless drew a genuinely positive conclusion from the sprint: ‘I’m very happy with how the day went. Because after Friday, I hadn’t expected either the pace in qualifying or the performance in the race. That was another very good step forward for the whole team.”

And on the Marquez brothers’ successful attack straight after the start: “It was a minor mistake – I just braked a bit too early. But in the end, my pace was what it was. I’ll admit – I could have handled the first corner a bit better, but I’m really pleased with the race.”

And what if the leader after Turn 1 had been Bezzecchi? “Let’s put it this way, it wouldn’t have been a disadvantage, but as I said, it didn’t change my pace at all. I knew that Marc and Alex still had a bit more to give. Now we have to see how we can do better next time.”

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30.08.2026 - 08:45

The Aprilia rider also stood by his tyre choice: “I never had any doubts about the soft tyre. It suited me very well, both in terms of my approach to the sprint – and in the race itself.”

Bezzecchi’s conclusion summed it up well: “To be racing so close behind the Marquez brothers here in Aragon – that’s very good indeed! And – we’ve still got another day to get even closer.”

The situation in the World Championship is exciting: Bezzecchi closed the gap on leader Martin, who finished fifth in Aragon on Saturday. Meanwhile, Marc Marquez closed in from behind. The gap between ‘Bez’ and ‘MM93’ ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix: four points.