Marco Bezzecchi “stuck” during “complicated” Catalunya MotoGP weekend

Marco Bezzecchi extended his MotoGP World Championship lead to 15 points despite his toughest weekend of the season in Catalunya.

The factory Aprilia rider arrived in Barcelona holding just a one-point advantage over team-mate Jorge Martin.

Bezzecchi’s lead looked in jeopardy when a qualifying fall left him to start just twelfth on the grid.

“The crash in Q2 was a shame,” Bezzecchi reflected. “From there, things got a bit complicated.”

However, although Martin showed stronger pace, he also crashed five times across the weekend.

Martin’s pointless weekend was complete when he fell from an early second in the grand prix after contact with fellow RS-GP rider Raul Fernandez.

Bezzecchi, meanwhile, salvaged sixth at the chequered flag, which became fifth after Ai Ogura’s penalty, then fourth when Joan Mir lost his runner-up finish due to low tyre pressure.

"A little bit stuck"

“First of all, I hope Alex and Joan are fine, because the crash from Alex especially was quite huge,” Bezzecchi told MotoGP.com.

“About the rest, today was just tough. But I managed to make the maximum that I could.

“To be completely honest with you, I started in a decent way on Friday and then I was just a little bit stuck there.

“My pace was always quite similar. The others improved, and I couldn't.

“So it was a tough weekend.

“I improved a bit, but I think that the test tomorrow will help us to maybe find some different solution, especially for this track.”

Rain marred Monday’s test, when Martin fell for a sixth time.

The next event will be Bezzecchi and Aprilia’s home Italian MotoGP from 29-31 May.