Marco Bezzecchi: ‘I had no confidence, Marquez brothers more competitive’

With only Franco Morbidelli the other Ducati behind him, three-time MotoGP race winner Marco Bezzecchi was unable to rectify the braking issues that plagued him during pre-season testing.

Finding the GP23 a tough bike to adapt to, Bezzecchi was unable to turn his struggles around at Qatar, as he instead found himself locked in a battle with the likes of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Honda duo Johann Zarco and Joan Mir.

• “Really tough”: Fabio Quartararo’s Yamaha ten seconds further from the top 

• Joan Mir: ‘I felt like I had more than Quartararo, tyres then dropped a lot’

I had no confidence with the brakes and not even when entering the corner,” Bezzecchi was quoted by GPOne. 

“I ended up having to open the throttle earlier than I should have since I had no speed.

“Also, I soon ran out of rear tyre and had to try and manage it. When there were 11 laps to go I was already on the C mapping of the engine which is the one that delivers the least power.

“It was a tough weekend. There were some positive things but when a weekend goes wrong it’s difficult to recuperate.

“Let’s hope we immediately find a good starting point for the next round in Portimao.”

Bezzecchi was nowhere near the other three Ducati riders that were using the same machine as him.

Marc Marquez was the highest placed rider aboard a GP23 bike, finishing fourth, while Alex Marquez was sixth, one place ahead of Bezzecchi’s team-mate Fabio Di Giannantonio.

“The Marquez brothers and my team-mate were more competitive than me in the time attack and also in race distance,” added Bezzecchi.

“I’ll have to analyse the data to understand what I lacked compared to them. Above all, I have to understand why I lacked speed.

“Now I’m not able to do what my team-mate does. I’m not confident with the front and when I touch the brakes the bike doesn’t turn.

“I’m struggling overall but I’m working hard so I’ll get there. It’s a frsutrating situation but at the same time motivating.”