Marco Bezzecchi was “quite scared” after seagu...

Marco Bezzecchi has admitted that he was “fairly scared” that he had broken his Aprilia MotoGP bike after an unlucky collision with a seagull on the warm-up lap of the Australian Grand Prix dash.

A flock of seagulls gathered on the beginning/end straight earlier than the formation lap bought underway at Phillip Island, with Bezzecchi placing a wayward fowl as he set off from pole place.

The seagull bought caught within the entrance part of his motorbike for some time, however the Italian recovered from the early mishap to say a dominant win, main a 1-2 for Aprilia forward of Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez.

Nonetheless, regardless of his three-second successful margin, Bezzecchi was eager to emphasize that it wasn’t a straightforward race for him, as he defined how the seagull strike gave him a short scare.

“After I began the warm-up lap, in addition they began the warm-up lap,” he joked. “It was a tough second, particularly as a result of I did not actually know what to do and I used to be simply attempting to guard myself. 

“After that, I used to be fairly scared that possibly the bike was broken, however happily, it was not. Clearly, I am fairly sorry for this, however I could not do something.”

Ranging from the entrance row on the grid, Bezzecchi settled into second place on the opening lap behind Fernandez, who stormed into the lead with an excellent getaway from fourth place.

Nonetheless, Bezzecchi couldn’t make any inroads into Fernandez’s lead within the early section of the race, and it wasn’t till lap 6 that he was inside placing distance of the Spaniard.

The Italian admitted that his bike didn’t fairly really feel proper within the opening laps of the race, however stated he couldn’t be certain if it was associated to the seagull strike.

“On the left particularly, I suffered loads with the entrance tyre at first,” he defined.

“I assumed possibly I broke the aero or one thing. I do not know if it was due to this [the seagull hit] or not, however I noticed this after the second lap.

“I believe it was not due to this, however I’ll by no means know.”

On lap 6, Bezzecchi practically bumped into the again of race chief Fernandez when he missed his braking marker for Flip 10, dropping virtually a second within the course of as he ran huge off the observe.

Nonetheless, he shortly caught as much as the Trackhouse rider and accomplished a straightforward go on lap 10 to take back-to-back dash wins in 2025.

When requested to clarify the error, Bezzecchi stated: “I made a small mistake on the backside of the hill of Flip 9. I misplaced the rear a bit simply earlier than braking, and after I braked, I bought a large shake. 

“I needed to organize properly for Flip 10, as a result of Raul was at all times going huge since two or three laps in a row. I needed to be near possibly take the slipstream and go on the primary braking. Then, happily, I recovered properly from the error.”

Bezzecchi’s scintillating dash race tempo makes him one of many favorite for victory on Sunday, even with the double lengthy lap penalty he’s carrying for taking out Marc Marquez within the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Nonetheless, the 26-year-old downplayed his probabilities for the grand prix, noting that a number of variables – together with climate and tyre alternative – may affect the outcome.

“I do not know [if a win is possible],” he stated. “To start with, we do not know the situation for tomorrow, particularly in regards to the climate. 

“In fact, the gentle is tremendous grippy, however on the final lap, it was already dropping loads for me. So I believe it is tough to maintain this as an choice for the longer race. 

“The combo [of] the climate situation and medium rear – if it is potential –  plus two lengthy laps makes all the pieces fairly difficult.

“The goal for me is to attempt to take out one of the best from the race. If it is a prime ten, I can be pleased with a prime ten. If it is a prime 5, the identical or extra.”

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– The Motorsport.com Staff