MotoGP qualifying “easier” for Marco Bezzecchi after Aprilia “found something”

Aprilia MotoGP boss Paolo Bonora says technical improvements made at the Aragon MotoGP test have made qualifying “easier” for Marco Bezzecchi.

One of Marco Bezzecchi’s biggest issues in 2025 has been qualifying on the RS-GP.

Before Assen, Bezzecchi’s best qualifying was a seventh at Le Mans and his average qualifying was 11th. The Italian’s complaints were largely about the stability of the bike on a new rear tyre.

But, at Assen, Bezzecchi managed to qualify on the second row in fifth place, comfortably his best of the 2025 season, which was a large factor in the Aprilia rider being able to finish on the podium in both races.

Paolo Bonora said after the race in the Netherlands that Bezzecchi’s improvement in performance over one lap was down to improvements made in the post-race test at Aragon; but the Aprilia Racing Team Manager also said that Bezzecchi needs to repeat the kind of performance he displayed in Assen before the Noale marque can be sure that its work to improve his one-lap speed is generalisable.

“We have to wait to be constantly there,” Bonora told MotoGP.com’s After the Flag show after the Dutch MotoGP.

“For sure, it’s many times that we have suffered a lot in the past to make a good qualifying position, but we work a lot during Aragon.

“During the Aragon weekend we found something regarding the acceleration phase with the new tyre, and during the Aragon test, and Mugello as well, we did another step forward to achieve the correct confidence between Marco and the new tyre.

“It was difficult for him to manage in a good way the extra grip that the new tyre gives to the rider, but it seems to be that with the latest step – in the electronics in particular, in the torque management, and also with the aerodynamics – we made more stable the bike.

“It is not easy, but it is easier for him to manage a new tyre.

“We have to keep this kind of way of working and we want to see if this setup and this setting works in a good way also in Sachsenring and in Brno.”

Bezzecchi was able to turn his second-row start into a podium in both races at Assen: third in the Sprint and second in the Dutch TT.

It was something that Bonora put down to his ability as a “leader” inside the factory Aprilia team, as well as his affinity for the Assen circuit.

“We would like to thank so much Marco [Bezzecchi] for his job, for his energy in particular, and to keep the team at this level,” Bonora said.

“His ability is to also be a leader inside the garage, and this gives us much more energy and another force to keep the weekend at a high level.

“For sure, here in Assen, we have seen since Thursday that there is something inside the garage very special, because also in the past we did something good.

“Also, Marco likes so much Assen, the Assen layout.”

Bonora made reference to a new aerodynamic design that Bezzecchi ran in the race.

“So, we started in a very good way, we didn’t change so much,” he said.

“At the end, we tested something regarding the aerodynamics on Savadori’s side, and we bring this during the Warm Up and immediately in the race. So, we did a great job, and we’d like to thank Marco, but the team as well, and all the Aprilia guys in the factory.”