Marco Bezzecchi wasn’t celebrating after his second comeback in as many days: “This isn’t what I want — but…”
He finished eighth, climbing twelve places from 20th on the grid — one of the most impressive comebacks of the race. And yet, Marco Bezzecchi’s tone after the Aragón GP was anything but celebratory. Despite showing strong race pace on his Aprilia, the Italian remains unsatisfied.
Marco Bezzecchi’s words
“Today was more or less like yesterday. Good start, nice scrap at the beginning, then I tried to settle in and recover as much as I could. In the end, I finished eighth. But I don’t like finishing eighth — that’s not what I’m aiming for.”
“Sure, a few riders in front of me dropped out, but still — I gained 12 positions. And it’s not enough. I know I can do more, and I want to do more.”
Speaking to Sky, he broke down the main challenge — qualifying:
“The issue is qualifying. We’re still struggling there. The bike is improving pretty much across the board, but once we put on the soft tyre for the time attack, it becomes tough to ride. It gets way more reactive, less precise, and you’ve got almost no margin — in braking, in acceleration. Everything gets more extreme: lean angle, braking point, corner exit. It demands a lot of control.”
“And since the start of the year, I haven’t done many time attacks. We had to focus on development, there were a few specific situations, and I ended up pushing on my own most of the time. That’s something I’ve been carrying with me, and it shows.”
“When the grip drops and the tyre wears out, it’s a different story — the bike gets more manageable, and I can ride it better. That’s when I can squeeze something extra out.”
“The upside is that we’re just at the beginning of this journey with Aprilia. There’s a long and exciting road ahead. It’s going to take patience, but I believe in it. Together, we can reach the top.”
On tomorrow’s testing day:
“We’ve got a test day tomorrow. I’m not sure yet how many tyres we’ll get, but the idea is to ride a lot. The whole day — from 10 to 6 — and I want to focus on this specific area. We’ll meet with the team tonight and set the plan. I already know what I want to work on.”
Photo: Aprilia