Marco Bezzecchi hails “fantastic Friday” at Sepang MotoGP despite sizeable deficit
Marco Bezzecchi was almost half-a-second off the pace in Practice at the Sepang MotoGP, but nonetheless feels it was a “fantastic Friday”.
Day one in Sepang was, on paper, underwhelming for Marco Bezzecchi, but the Italian has hailed it instead as a “fantastic Friday”.
Bezzecchi has won five races this year, so sixth on the time sheets in Practice is below his own standard.
However, the Aprilia Racing rider had a rotten Malaysia weekend in 2025, finishing 11th in the grand prix, one of only two races after last year’s Dutch TT at Assen that saw him finish off the podium.
So, finishing within half-a-second of the top time set by Marc Marquez was something to be pleased about for Bezzecchi.
“A fantastic Friday, compared to last year,” said Marco Bezzecchi, speaking to Sky Sport Italy.
“I am competitive in terms of pace, less so in the time attack.
“But I wasn't perfect in terms of riding, I made a few too many mistakes.”
Looking to the races, Bezzecchi saw now only Alex and Marc Marquez as the riders who could cause him problems, but also Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pedro Acosta.
"The Marquez brothers are faster than me, Diggia [Fabio Di Giannantonio] and Acosta are also fast,” the Aprilia Racing rider said.
“But I pulled like a beast all the laps to get myself in place as much as possible. I'm excited.”
Bezzecchi’s team-mate, Jorge Martin, arrived at Sepang with a fractured wrist after his crash in Phillip Island last week. The 2024 MotoGP champion sat out most of Practice after a front-end scare at turn 13.
Aprilia is already down to three riders this weekend after Raul Fernandez withdrew from the event due to the broken finger he picked up in Mandalika three weeks ago.
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
