Bezzecchi made a bold but wrong decision: 6th place in the sprint

The starting position was good, but not perfect: Marco Bezzecchi had secured fourth on the grid in the second qualifying session. This was all the more remarkable given that, just the day before – also on soft tyres – the Italian had been significantly faster than Jorge Martin, who was now shooting off from pole on the second black Aprilia.

Marco Bezzecchi also got off to a very good start in the 12-lap race, with number 72 entering Turn 1 ahead of his rival Acosta. But that was the end of the attack. Rather than an offensive, the remaining 11 laps turned into a defensive battle. Bezzecchi’s plan to capitalise on the strengths of the medium tyres – which only he had chosen – after a short warm-up phase failed on the new tarmac.

After KTM rider Bastianini, ‘Bez’ also had to let Ai Ogura – who had started from P11, also on an Aprilia – and MotoGP rookie Moreira pass him. Just before the chequered flag, LCR veteran Zarco also closed in, but he managed to defend 6th place. Finishing around seven seconds behind winner Marc Marquez meant a setback in the battle for the MotoGP crown. The gap to Marquez widened to 38 points; he now trails the ‘Martinator’ in the neighbouring pit by 45 points.

The rider from Rimini tried to take a level-headed view and explained his approach: “I’d been on the medium tyre in the morning session and was doing very well on it. On top of that, there were concerns that the soft compound might overheat. We discussed it and I then opted for the medium – not to attack, but because I knew I could ride consistently well on them.”

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Bezzecchi continued: “And that’s exactly how it turned out. After the first two laps, where I had to fight, the performance was there – it was just too slow. The feeling was there, but the pace wasn’t. I was losing almost a second per lap. On paper, it was the right decision, but of course the result tells a different story.”

At the same time, Bezzecchi, who had long led the World Championship, said: “One positive is certainly that we now have more confidence with the Medium tyre. Many riders will be considering this tyre for the Grand Prix race. I don’t want to say that I now have a huge advantage with it, but we have more experience.”