Austrian Grand Prix polesitter Marco Bezzecchi hopes he can “discover one thing extra” in Sunday’s characteristic race after lacking the rostrum within the dash.
The manufacturing facility Aprilia rider was unable to transform his pole within the dash on Saturday, during which he finished a disappointing fourth behind the Marquez brothers and Pedro Acosta.
However the Italian was quickest in Sunday morning’s warm-up session on the Pink Bull Ring, providing some hope that he might take the struggle to Ducati and KTM within the grand prix.
Whereas he acknowledged that he was no match for his rivals on Saturday, Bezzecchi can draw consolation from the truth that Aprilia is not any stranger to creating substantial in a single day enhancements. Bezzecchi will bear in mind the step Aprilia made between Saturday and Sunday on the Dutch Grand Prix in June, when he pushed Marc Marquez laborious in the primary race.
And contemporary within the reminiscence, Bezzecchi’s pole position in Austria adopted a Friday on which your entire staff struggled and Bezzecchi was solely 18th quickest. Ideas from mentor Valentino Rossi, amongst different strides on set-up, led to the turnaround.
“The dash was precisely how I anticipated,” he stated after the Saturday race. “OK, in qualifying we recovered so much from the day yesterday, however we’re nonetheless lacking a bit of labor when it comes to tempo. So, this morning [in FP2] I attempted to work [on race set-up], however I didn’t make the hole how I needed. It was not sufficient.
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Picture by: Gold and Goose Pictures / LAT Photos / through Getty Photos
“So, I anticipated these names [the Marquez brothers and Acosta] plus Pecco, to be trustworthy. Pecco had an issue, so on the finish it was just about like I anticipated.”
Requested after the dash if he might win on Sunday, Bezzecchi stated: “It’s all the time a goal in fact. We have now to be bold, but in addition sensible. In the mean time, I’m a bit slower when it comes to tempo, however I’ll attempt my finest to work tonight to seek out one thing extra, and be aggressive tomorrow.”
The indicators on Sunday morning have been good in that regard. Bezzecchi’s warm-up time was 0.199s quicker than that of Francesco Bagnaia aboard the second manufacturing facility Ducati, with Marc Marquez fifth-quickest and 0.403s behind the British Grand Prix winner.
Whereas instances set within the warm-up have restricted significance, it’s value noting that Bezzecchi’s late lap of 1m29.350s was the one one faster than one of the best historic race lap on this structure, the 1m29.519s set by Bagnaia on his method to victory final 12 months.
For context, this weekend’s tempo has usually been slower than up to now. Unusually for MotoGP in 2025, Bezzecchi’s Saturday pole (1m28.060s) got here nowhere close to Jorge Martin’s 2024 lap report of 1m27.748s. His warm-up time bucked that pattern, nonetheless, suggesting there may be nonetheless room for riders to make a transfer up the order.
What might make all of that educational, nonetheless, is the fickle Styrian climate. The paddock is retaining a cautious eye on the skies forward of the beginning of the race, with rain a definite chance.
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