Marco Bezzecchi thought Indonesian MotoGP Sprint win was “gone”

The Indonesian MotoGP Sprint was not a straightforward one for Marco Bezzecchi, and the win in the end came almost as a surprise.

Starting from pole, Bezzecchi launched badly and was eighth on the first lap. Gradually he fought himself forwards, and benefitted from the likes of Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta making mistakes and handing him positions.

After Acosta crashed out on lap five, Bezzecchi was into the podium positions. He then passed Raul Fernandez to move up to second, and then faced a 2.4-second gap to Fermin Aldeguer in the lead.

The Aprilia Racing rider had superior pace to Aldeguer but only six laps to make it count. He arrived on the final lap within tenths of the Gresini Ducati rider, but moments before he ultimately made the pass to win, he thought his chance had passed.

“It was tough,” Marco Bezzecchi said after the Sprint.

“Fermin [Aldeguer] was super-good. 

“I saw that I was super-quick in sector two and I said ‘Okay, let’s try to be close there and maybe try an overtake in turn 10,’ that is one of the few hotspots that we have – we have not many in this track. 

“When I arrived there in turn seven, then he made turn eight super-good, so I was a bit far. 

“I said ‘No, it’s gone’. 

“But then in turn nine I took the slipstream, I was quite close, I tried anyway. 

“It was aggressive, but it was enough. 

“Then, in turn 11 and 12 he put the wheel inside and too close, I lost the front, and I expected him to pass me again, but I didn’t hear him so I said ‘Okay, maybe he’s not there’.”

It was Bezzecchi’s second MotoGP Sprint win in three events after winning at Misano when Marc Marquez crashed out of the lead shortly after passing him.

Despite the arguably more striking circumstances of his Indonesia win, Bezzecchi couldn’t choose between the two.

“It’s not better, not worse, just different – a different feeling,” he said, comparing his Mandalika win with that of San Marino.

“For sure Misano is my home grand prix but winning also like this is super-cool. 

“But I don’t have a favourite one, I just want to make good races.”

Certainly, Bezzecchi’s Indonesia race was a strong performance from a technical perspective, but it also brought entertainment.

But the reason for this was a source of curiosity for Bezzecchi, who didn’t understand when he spoke to the media after the Sprint why his start was so bad.

“My hopes were different, of course, but unfortunately in the start– we have to understand what happened, if it was my mistake or not, because the first couple of metres I really started slowly,” he said.

“After, the bike was okay, but I don’t know why I lost a lot of ground in the first 10 or 20 metres. 

“It was tough, I was in the back, but I knew I had the pace to try to fight back at least.”

Looking to Sunday, Bezzecchi was concerned by two things: his start, and tyres.

“[We need to] try to understand what happened in the start, try to make better tomorrow,” he said.

“The longer race will be super-tough because here is a track where the tyres are always critical – especially also the front, not only the rear.”

About tyre choice, he added: “I don’t know because the soft [compound rear tyre] when it drops normally is very bad. So, let’s see. 

“I have good confidence with the medium, I have decent confidence with the soft, but today the wear was quite big – okay, I had to push a lot. I don’t know, I have no idea.”