Sensational Marco Bezzecchi: “I hope the record lasts a day”

Marco Bezzecchi is back. That is the unequivocal message sent out by Aprilia from sunny England. Bezzecchi, who had undergone a fitness test on an Aprilia Superbike at his home circuit in Misano a week ago and who, less than 24 hours before qualifying at Silverstone, had to undergo a check-up by the MotoGP medical team, demonstrated his fitness with an outstanding fastest time and a new lap record.

As early as FP1, Bezzecchi had shown – finishing P2 as the best-placed Aprilia rider – that he had made good use of his recovery period. However, the way in which Bezzecchi then managed to go one better provided the surprise of the British GP opener. Right from the start, Bezzecchi beat his previous best time and then completed as many laps as possible at race pace. The number 72 stayed out of the fray for the fastest time.

Marc Márquez was 0.733 seconds slower than Bezzecchi

‘Bez’ initially left the limelight to his Trackhouse team-mates. Ogura and Fernandez outdid one another with record laps. When Raul Fernandez set the benchmark at 1:56.615 mins, the question of the fastest time seemed settled. But Bezzecchi managed to improve on that already fabulous new record by over 0.3 seconds. 1:56.280 – it wasn’t just in the Aprilia pit that jaws dropped for a while. Bezzecchi was half a second faster than his team-mate and the championship leader, and 0.733 seconds quicker than Marc Márquez.

Schockte die Konkurrenz mit einer Fabelzeit: Marco Bezzecchi

Foto: Gold and Goose

Marco Bezzecchi had already shown no signs of shyness on Thursday. If the feeling was right, the returning rider said, he wouldn’t hold back. After setting that fabulous time and sending a message to the MotoGP field, the Aprilia rider breathed a sigh of relief: “A fantastic day. Not just because I managed that lap time – but also because I’m here at all, having made my comeback.”

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The fact that the two Friday sessions had taken their toll on Bezzecchi was evident from his late arrival at the media debrief. First, he needed to treat his body with a physiotherapy session. “Bez” reported: “I flew back from Germany on Saturday. On Sunday I had an operation. Not just on my collarbone, but also on my knee, as the bone had been affected too. On Monday I went to the gym and to physio. Those days were a nightmare; I did absolutely everything I could to be here. I’m very happy – but I’m also completely knackered.”

Problems set in after five laps

The Italian, who has dropped to fourth in the World Championship standings, went on to emphasise: “It’s one thing to complete a lap, but quite another to race. After five laps in a row, I started having problems and made mistakes. The knee is the bigger problem. It was badly swollen by the end, and changing direction was very difficult. The aim for now is simply to finish both races. And until then, I’ll be spending a lot of time with the physio. I hope I’ll be able to get out of bed tomorrow without any aids.”

Bezzecchi’s verdict after an extraordinary comeback: “Of course, a fastest time on Friday doesn’t mean anything. But – I hold the record, at least for one day, and I hope it stands the test of tomorrow.”