Marco Bezzecchi acknowledged that his chances of triumph during the sprint of the Italian Grand Prix were ruined at the first corner, with a mistake that allowed him to lose points to Jorge Martín in the MotoGP championship.
The Italian rider surprised during the qualifying session on Saturday morning at Mugello, achieving pole position with his Aprilia, surpassing Raul Fernández and his teammate, Martín. This result added to a momentary improvement after his performances in Le Mans and Barcelona, where he did not perform at his best level.
Bezzecchi challenged his race strategy with a poor braking at the start, resulting in a drop to sixth place during the first lap. Although he recovered positions, finishing fourth, his lack of speed did not allow him to fight for a podium spot.
The 27-year-old rider expressed his disappointment, given that Martín closed in to just 12 points in the championship standings. “I simply braked too early in the first corner; it was a miscalculation,” Bezzecchi declared.
Regarding his performance, he added: “You always want more when you start from pole. However, it soon became clear that the sprint was lost after my mistake, so I tried to maximize what I could, but fourth place was the best I could do.”
Fernández and Martín adopted a strategy with medium tires, gaining a notable advantage over the competition. Fabio di Giannantonio, on soft tires, could not keep pace with the leaders, finishing with a deficit of more than three seconds.
Bezzecchi, enjoying a comfortable lead in the early races of the season, now finds himself under pressure after three weekends without securing a victory. Looking ahead to the full race on Sunday, the Italian rider considers that the circuit’s temperature could play in favor of the soft tire, and that all options will need to be analyzed to make the best strategic decision.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
