Bezzecchi: ‘I prefer rivals who are not my friends’, VR46 battles ‘more spicy’

MotoGP series leader Marco Bezzecchi says battling against other VR46 academy riders is ‘strange’ and that he would prefer to have rivals ‘who are not my friends’.

Robert Jones

13 Apr 2023

Marco Bezzecchi, Francesco Bagnaia Ducati MotoGP COTA

While Bezzecchi, current MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia, Luca Marini and Franco Morbidelli are no strangers to battling against one-another at the VR46 ranch, bringing their competition to MotoGP has made things ‘more spicy’, according to Bezzecchi.

The Italian, who became MotoGP’s latest race winner last time out in Argentina, now leads the championship heading into this weekend’s third round of the season.

But whether Bezzecchi can remain a title contender to Bagnaia throughout the season or not remains to be seen, but what he did show in Argentina was an ability to out-perform the reigning world champion throughout an entire weekend.

"It is strange," said Bezzecchi when discussing the rivalry with other members of the Valentino Rossi academy. "Honestly, I prefer to have rivals who are not my friends. But with Pecco, Luca, Frankie - I hope Vietti in the future - it is different.

"We’ve trained together for many years. Of course when we race in MotoGP and we close the visor, everyone is the same to me, and I try to arrive in front.

"We all know each other very well - we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses - this makes things more spicy!"

Bagnaia also spoke about the rivalry that is shared at the VR46 academy after claiming battles at the ranch are ‘more dirty’ than when they race on-track in MotoGP.

The factory Ducati rider said: "The cleanest battle we have is here! At home, the things we do are more difficult, more dirty, like a battle. It’s great to see riders from the Academy.

"This is the best moment of the Academy - winning the first two races of the championship, Luca did a podium in the sprint, Frankie was fourth.

"We are growing together a lot and, this year, we have taken a big step in front. We are smart - if we work together at home, we can all be at the front in MotoGP. It is a matter for us to be smart, not to be stupid, and to have clean battles."