Marco Bezzecchi “pushed like a b*****d” in ending sprint podium drought at Assen MotoGP

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi says he “pushed like a b*****d” to try to beat the Marquez brothers on his way to third in the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix sprint.

The four-time grand prix winner has been in strong form all weekend at Assen and carried that into qualifying, as he managed a best of the season of fifth on the factory Aprilia.

In the sprint, Marco Bezzecchi made a rapid start and moved into the podium places on the second lap of 13, before pressuring Marc and Alex Marquez in the lead.

A mistake late on due to “strange” conditions, however, dropped him from the Marquez brothers and forced him to settle for a first sprint podium since the 2023 Indonesian Grand Prix weekend.

“No, I didn’t expect anything in particular,” Bezzecchi, whose previous best in sprints in 2025 was a fourth at Silverstone, told TNT Sport.

“But yeah, it’s been a long time. I’ve been struggling a lot in the sprints lately, unfortunately.

“Also at the beginning of the year, in the sprint it’s important to also have a good qualifying and I was always missing something.

“Today, we made a decent qualifying - not perfect, because perfect would be the pole position.

“But a perfect job compared to the last races. So, I made a good start, I made a good first couple of laps.

“And when I found myself in the first place I just tried to push like a bastard to take the guys in front.”

He added: “I was close. When I passed Pecco [Bagnaia] and Fabio [Quartararo] I was super pumped and I made one and a half laps catching the Marquez brothers.

“But when I was close to Alex and I was preparing the attack I lost the front in Turn 3.

“It was strange with the wind and strange conditions compared to the rest of the weekend.

“So, I lost a couple of tenths, and they were super-fast and I couldn’t catch them anymore.

“It’s difficult for tomorrow because the race is long, and especially with the front tyres I don’t know really what to do. But we will see. I will try my best.”

Bezzecchi’s previous best sprint result at Silverstone preceded a successful challenge for victory in the British Grand Prix.

Despite conditions being similar at Assen, Bezzecchi is wary of suggesting a repeat of the British Grand Prix is on the cards for this Sunday.

“Silverstone was a similar condition but the track is different and I think here many Ducatis are fast, also Fabio.

“I am also fast, the Aprilia is working well. But the long race is always tricky. We will see tomorrow to make the last adjustments and we will see.”