Marco Bezzecchi: “Only one way” to be fast at “tight” Le Mans MotoGP

MotoGP title leader Marco Bezzecchi recovered from 14th in opening practice to secure direct Qualifying 2 access on Friday afternoon at Le Mans.

The Aprilia rider was classified in seventh place but just 0.270s from the top.

“It was tough because here at Le Mans the gaps are always very tight, so it takes very little to go great or terrible,” Bezzecchi told Sky Italia.

“So we achieved our first goal, which was to get to Q2.

“Obviously, I'm not feeling perfectly comfortable yet, but I managed to work on my riding a bit during this afternoon's session and set a decent time.”

The Italian, who starts the weekend eleven points clear of team-mate Jorge Martin, explained that the one-line nature of the circuit adds to the complexity.

"It's a tough track, for better or for worse, with very few options for interpreting many of the corners,” he said.

“In other words, there's only one way to do them: either you do them that way or you don't go [fast].

“This makes it all ultra-competitive because perhaps there's less opportunity to express yourself with slightly different lines and perhaps make a bit more of a difference.

“But at the same time, the gaps are reduced.

“Furthermore, the grip is quite good, despite the weather being a bit unstable.”

Assuming conditions remain dry, Bezzecchi plans to focus on braking precision and bike stability during Saturday morning practice.

"I need to fine-tune my riding a bit because there were two or three points where, especially under braking, I wasn't precise enough,” he said.

“Then I'll definitely try to work on the bike's overall stability when we're on the soft tyre, which is always our base tyre."

Martin was sixth fastest with Trackhouse Aprilia rider Ai Ogura making it three Aprilias in the top ten.