Marco Bezzecchi wishes for “extra push” for Moto2 rider after MotoGP test debut
Marco Bezzecchi says he hopes Celestino Vietti’s MotoGP test will give him “an extra push” in the 2026 Moto2 season.
A last-minute debut MotoGP test appearance for Celestino Vietti is hoped by Marco Bezzecchi to give him “an extra push” in next year’s Moto2 season.
Vietti was called up to the VR46 Racing Ducati team to replace Franco Morbidelli in the post-season Valencia test last Tuesday (18 November) after the 2017 Moto2 World Champion was forced out following a start line crash in the Valencia Grand Prix the previous Sunday (16 November) which left Morbidelli with a fracture in his left hand.
Vietti was not testing with a specific eye to joining the VR46 team full time in the future, necessarily; rather the VR46 Riders Academy spotted an opportunity for the only one of its grand prix-level members yet to ride a premier class bike to hop on one of its Desmosedicis.
During the weather-delayed morning of the test, Vietti spoke to the MotoGP world feed of how other members of the VR46 Academy, including Marco Bezzecchi, had talked to him about the test.
Speaking afterwards, Bezzecchi himself spoke of his own excitement for his compatriot.
“I saw him on the pit box before we started,” Bezzecchi, whose own test day was spent primarily testing aerodynamics on the Aprilia RS-GP, said after the Valencia test concluded.
“I didn’t know about this news, so I discovered this I think yesterday night so I wanted to say ‘hi’ to him.
“He was super-excited, I remember the first time I tried and it was an amazing day.
“[I’m] Happy for him, the Academy worked super-nice to find a space and give him this opportunity.
“Hopefully this will give him an extra push to make a very good [2026] Moto2 season and to try to make the step he needs to come to MotoGP. I hope for him, of course.”
Vietti was 22nd of the 22 riders who took part in the test, over three seconds off the best pace and slower than he managed during the Valencia Grand Prix weekend on his Moto2 Boscoscuro, on which he finished the final intermediate class race of the season in eighth. But he only completed around 30 laps on the Desmosedici.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
