Marco Bezzecchi (8): Happy with the small progress / MotoGP

In Austin, Marco Bezzecchi, who was one of the biggest entertainers last season and was also part of the fight for the World Championship and the race victory, was still not able to repeat his old form. However, “Bez” showed the highest trend in the USA. Eighth place in the race was not a stroke of luck, but a true testament to the current performance of the Bezzecchi-Ducati package.

As in the Algarve, Bezzecchi had laid an important cornerstone by going straight into Q2 and subsequently 10th on the grid. Also positive: Contrary to his colleague, who could not jump in the race, the 25-year-old from the Adriatic took full information from Saturday’s short rodeos with him.

The VR46 Racing Team definitely came to the right conclusion from this. Because in the “Main Event” in Texas things went much better for #72. The race at the unique American track is almost a replica of the race 12 months ago. Although “Bez” managed sixth place in the 2022 Desmosedici tests for the team that was still created under Mooney’s sponsorship, in the end Bezzecchi was the same distance as the 2024 winner (13.4 seconds) except for one second.
A little curious, in eighth place in 2023 – Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Back to reality. Although 11th place at the World Cup is not a revelation for the neon sophomore, considering the almost hopeless deficit in the winter tests, Bezzecchi has clearly succeeded. There is an upward trend, which is also an important aspect of the Texas debate.

Marco Bezzecchi: “Eighth place is not an impressive result and it’s not one I’m happy with – but we made progress this weekend and that’s a good thing. There are a number of aspects of the car that now work better. We also can’t expect that things will move forward with big step. But things are moving forward.”

Words that find confirmation in race analysis research. After the first phase of the season, where the #72 struggled at the back of the field and the first measurable progress that brought Bezzecchi to the front of the MotoGP midfield in Portugal – the Italian was 19 seconds behind the winner – there were still 13. per second of the COTA event Finally, the distance of the winner says more than the position.

The official MotoGP test day will take place immediately after the next race in Jerez. Here Marco Bezzecchi hopes to gain the knowledge he needs to jump to the next level and thus return to the top.
Bezzecchi: “I’m very happy that the test in Jerez is coming soon. Last year it was very difficult there because I couldn’t try more than a few starts. Now we have a strong plan to find improvements. I hope we can get back to the top with this.”

US GP Results:
1. Maverick Viñales (L) Aprilia 41:09.503 minutes.
2. Pedro Acosta (E) GASGAS +1.728 sec.
3. Enea Bastianini (I) Ducati +2.703 sec.
4. Jorge Martín (L) Pramac Ducati +4.690 sec.
5. Francesco Bagnaia (I) Ducati +7.392 sec.
6. Fabio Di Giannantonio (I) VR46 Ducati +9.980 sec.
7. Aleix Espargaró (E) Aprilia +12.208 seconds.
8. Marco Bezzecchi (I) VR46 Ducati +13.343 sec.
9. Brad Binder (ZA) KTM +14.931 sec.
10. Raúl Fernández (E) Trackhouse Aprilia +16.656 sec.
11. Miguel Oliveira (P) Trackhouse Aprilia +18,542 sec.
12. Fabio Quartararo (F) Yamaha +22,899 sec.
13. Jack Miller (AUS) KTM +24,011 sec.
14. Augusto Fernandez (E) GASGAS +27.652 sec.
15. Alex Márquez (L) Gresini Ducati +32.855 sec.
16. Luca Marini (I) Repsol Honda +33,528 sec.
17. Marc Márquez (ESP) Gresini Ducati out
18. Alex Rins (E) Yamaha out
19. Joan Mir (E) Repsol Honda out
20. Franco Morbidelli (I) Pramac Ducati out
21. Takaaki Nakagami (J) LCR Honda out
22. Johann Zarco (F) LCR Honda out

World Championship of Drivers to Austin:
1. Martin 80
2. Bastianini 59
3. Vinales 56
4. Acosta 54
5. Bagnaia 50
6. Fastener 49
7. Espargaro 39
8. Marc Marquez 36
9. And Giannantonio 25
10. Miller 22
11. Bezzecchi 20
12. Every quarter
13. Alex Márquez 14
14. Oliveira 13
15. Raúl Fernández 7
16. Augusto Fernandez 7
17. Mir 7
18. Zarco 5
19. When 3
20. Nakagami 2
21. Morbidelli 0
22. Marini 0

Designers:
1. Ducati 96
2. KTM 76
3. April 72
4. Yamaha 19
5. Honda 8
Team:
1. Ducati Lenovo 109
2. April 95
3. Pramac 80
4. KTM 71
5. YEAR 61
6. Grease 50
7. VR46 45
8. Yamaha 22
9. Trackhouse 20
10. Honda 7
11. LCR 7