Marco Bezzecchi on first MotoGP 2026 sprint podium: “I was having nightmares…”

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi says he was “having nightmares at home” over his struggles in MotoGP sprints in 2026, following a first Saturday podium of the year at Le Mans.

The championship leader went three for three on Sundays at the start of the campaign, while adding a second-place finish to his haul at the Spanish Grand Prix.

But poor sprint results have conspired to keep his championship advantage slender, with Marco Bezzecchi failing to score in three out of the first four.

On Saturday at the French Grand Prix, however, he finally breached the top three in a sprint for the first time in 2026.

Having briefly led at the start of the race, a mistake at Turn 7 on the third lap dropped him behind Pecco Bagnaia, with Bezzecchi admitting that he struggled with the front-end of his Aprilia throughout.

“Well, I was not really feeling good at the beginning, especially,” he said.

“The front for me was a bit of a problem.

“So, this is why I made this mistake [at Turn 7 that let Bagnaia through].

“But I also made a couple of more during the rest of the sprint when I was behind Pecco.

“So, it was impossible for me to stay with him.

“Fortunately, it was enough to escape from Pedro.

“But because of this, I’m satisfied; finally, a good result also on Saturday.

“It was something that I was having nightmares [about] every day at home. So, today is finally good.”

Bezzecchi’s podium came as team-mate Jorge Martin charged from eighth on the grid to take the lead at Le Mans’ Dunlop chicane on the opening lap.

Martin carried on to build a solid lead and took the chequered flag for his second sprint victory of the season.

As a result, the 2024 world champion is now just six points behind Bezzecchi in the standings going into Sunday’s French Grand Prix.