Marco Bezzecchi on MotoGP title pressure: ‘If I didn’t want it, I’d work in my dad’s shop’

Marco Bezzecchi says he “would have worked in my dad’s repair shop” had he not wanted to the pressure of being a MotoGP title protagonist, following his Misano crash.

The Aprilia rider lost a big opportunity to reduce his championship points deficit in Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix, after crashing out of the lead on the opening lap.

With Ducati’s Marc Marquez winning the race and Jorge Martin finishing fifth after struggling with arm pump, Bezzecchi is 33 points behind the duo now level in the standings.

Since his last win at the Italian Grand Prix at the end of May, Bezzecchi has failed to score on five of the last seven Sundays.

In that same span, Marquez has won five times.

“If it had been easy, everyone would have done it”

Bezzecchi led the championship after winning four times from the first eight rounds, but told Italian TV after the Misano race that he never considered himself to have had “my hands on the title”.

“I never thought after the first seven grands prix [that] I had my hands on the title,” he said.

“And I’m sure not even Marc is thinking about it.

“Of course, Marc is an experienced rider. He’s very fast and, obviously, he’s not an easy opponent. Nor is Martin.

“But if it had been easy, everyone would have done it.

“And if I hadn’t wanted this type of pressure, I would have worked in my dad’s repair shop.

“Instead, I’m trying to be a rider. So, that’s life. We need to deal with this too.”

Speaking to Sky Italy, Bezzecchi accepted that “the others were better” than him on Sunday, but that this will be a learning experience.

"Yes, it's long, that's true,” he said of the rest of the season.

“It's tough, because that's clear. But come on, all is not lost.

“Obviously, I'm disappointed in general, not just because we're in Misano, but I would have been disappointed even if we'd been somewhere else.

“I would have liked to have a good day and continue this streak of good races after my injury.

“But in the end, you have to learn something from everything and nothing.

“The others were better, and I'll try to improve and be better next time.”