Marco Bezzecchi issues defiant MotoGP title message to Jorge Martin

Marco Bezzecchi has told Jorge Martin “it’s not over yet” despite an injury ruling him out of the Australian Grand Prix in a big blow to his MotoGP title hopes.

The 2024 world champion came into the Phillip Island round leading the standings by two points, and threatened to extend that during the 13-lap sprint.

Coming from fourth on the grid, Martin was immediately in the victory battle with chief title rival Marc Marquez.

However, on lap eight, while running in second, Martin suffered a high-speed crash at Turn 8 and fractured his wrist.

“Anything can happen…”

Martin has been ruled out of Sunday’s race at Phillip Island and is in doubt for next week’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Marquez is now 10 points clear in the standings, with Martin’s injury handing the Ducati rider the advantage with just five rounds remaining.

But Bezzecchi has thrown his support behind Martin and doesn’t think he can be ruled out just yet.

“It’s a real shame for Jorge, the team and everyone at Aprilia, because he was doing a great job,” Bezzecchi said on Saturday.

“Obviously it’s not over yet.

As we’ve seen before in this championship, anything can happen. I want to send him a big hug.”

Bezzecchi led the championship by over 30 points at one stage of this season, while Marquez was 102 adrift after the Italian Grand Prix.

Bezzecchi salvages fourth in sprint

Bezzecchi struggled in the mixed conditions in qualifying on Saturday morning and was only ninth on the grid.

In the early stages of the sprint, he found himself outside of the points, though was able to rally to finish fourth.

“As for today, I’m not happy with qualifying,” he added.

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t put together a lap quick enough to start further up the grid.

“That’s disappointing, because I was quite competitive in the wet and in the dry, but in the mixed conditions in qualifying I couldn’t find the speed.

“I’m happy with the sprint, though. I really enjoyed it.”

Bezzecchi is 50 points behind Marquez in third in the standings now, and may face the final five rounds as Aprilia’s only title hope should Martin be out long-term.