Marco Bezzecchi identifies key focus for more Aprilia MotoGP wins

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi says the brand needs to figure out how to improve tyre life during a grand prix if it wants to have a chance at winning more MotoGP races.

The Italian - who won the British Grand Prix in May - enjoyed his best overall weekend of the season in front of his home crowd at the San Marino Grand Prix a few days ago.

Marco Bezzecchi put his factory Aprilia on pole and went on to win the sprint after Ducati’s Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead just moments after overtaking the Italian.

It brought an end to Ducati’s domination of the sprints in MotoGP this season and set Bezzecchi up for a strong challenge for victory in Sunday’s grand prix.

Bezzecchi led for the first 11 laps of the San Marino Grand Prix before making a mistake at Turn 8 and ceding the position to Marquez.

He pushed hard to try to reclaim it, but ultimately came up just short in second.

Reflecting on the race during Monday’s test day at Misano, Bezzecchi told Sky Italy that Aprilia needs to improve tyre longevity in grands prix to get on terms with its rivals.

“I rewatched the GP, it was really tight towards the end,” he said.

“Now we need to work hard to be ready for a difficult and important part of the season. We’re improved, but we’re still missing something.

“We should be fresher on tyres at the end of the race. That’s where the others make the difference.”

Bezzecchi’s Misano weekend has put him firmly in the hunt in the battle for third in the standings now, following another disaster for VR46 Academy stablemate Pecco Bagnaia.

Heading to next weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, Bezzecchi is just eight points adrift of the factory Ducati rider.

If he manages this, it will be his highest championship placement since he was third in 2023 when he won three grands prix on the VR46-run Ducati.