Bezzecchi secured his podium place at Motegi: “Bastinanini was in top form!”
Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi finished on the podium on Sunday during the MotoGP weekend in Japan. It was a result that held particular significance for the third-placed rider in the World Championship and one that almost slipped away from him in the closing stages.
This article is an automatically generated English version. The
Platz 3 beim Japan-GP für Aprilia-Werksfahrer Marco Bezzecchi
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Platz 3 beim Japan-GP für Aprilia-Werksfahrer Marco Bezzecchi
© Gold and Goose
“It was a difficult weekend for me, but I wanted this podium finish so much!” said Marco Bezzecchi following Sunday’s MotoGP race at Motegi. Just the day before, in the sprint race, the Aprilia rider played no part in the top three finishing positions. Starting from fourth on the grid, he could only manage sixth place. In the Grand Prix, however, ‘Bezz’ managed to overtake Pedro Acosta – who had started ahead of him – right at the start and, in the wake of his team-mate Jorge Martín and the eventual race winner Marc Márquez, opened up a gap to Enea Bastianini behind him.
Towards the end of the race, however, things got tight again when ‘La Bestia’ set several fastest race laps in quick succession, putting the Aprilia rider under pressure: ‘Bastianini was in top form!’ said the 28-year-old, commenting on the Tech3 rider’s comeback push shortly before the end of the race. Although the number 23 rider didn’t manage to make an overtaking attempt, just under 8 hundredths of a second separated the rivals at the finish line.
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The rider with number 72 secured the Aprilia team’s next podium finish at Motegi with his third place behind his team-mate Martin. A result that held special personal significance for the rider from Rimini due to a tragic turn of events: “I wanted a place on the podium so much, because it had already been a difficult week for me. On my arrival in Japan, I learnt of the loss of someone very dear to me and subsequently worked hard to secure a place on the podium.” It was only in the sprint race the previous day that Aprilia, with Jorge Martin, had secured the brand’s first-ever podium finish at the Japanese circuit.
Nevertheless, the rider from Rimini is finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the leaders in the World Championship standings: With Marc Márquez scoring 37 points across both Motegi races in Japan, Bezzecchi’s gap to the Ducati ace in second place in the World Championship standings has widened by a further 17 points. The Italian now trails his pit neighbour and current World Championship leader, Martin, by 49 points.
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Willkommen zum Rennen in Motegi
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Pedro Acosta
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Fans
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Pecco Bagnaia
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Jorge Martin
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Start des Rennens
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Jorge Martin
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Ai Ogura
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Fermin Aldeguer
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Marco Bezzecchi
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Pedro Acosta
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Jorge Martin und Marc Márquez
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Raúl Fernández
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Enea Bastianini
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Ogura und Fernández
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Luca Marini
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Marc Márquez gewinnt das Rennen
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Sieger Marc Márquez
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Jorge Martin, Marc Márquez, Marco Bezzecchi
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Sieger Marc Márquez
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Willkommen zum Rennen in Motegi
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