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Despite a crash at the end of the day, Marco Bezzecchi managed to close out Friday by getting into Q2, thanks to the fourth quickest time he set in FP2. A confirmation of that excellent adaptation to the Aprilia RS-GP, which the Romagna rider had already shown during winter testing and which allowed the Noale manufacturer to archive the Friday of the Thai GP with no less than three bikes in the Top 10.
"It was a positive day. Hot, but we expected it here in Thailand. Although I have to say that the temperature is a little bit higher than in testing, both in the morning and in the afternoon, and that changed the track conditions a little bit. I felt good though, also because we made some small changes to try to go with the track conditions, which had less rubber than in testing. I also had to change something in my riding to try to adapt, but I'm quite satisfied - Bezzecchi said at the end of the day - I ran into a small slide, because I tried to do something more. It was the first time I risked like that, but I decided to try anyway because in my opinion it was worth it in this session. I think it was possible to avoid the crash, but it was the first time I felt a movement like that under braking, I didn't know what to do, and I tried to put the bike in anyway. I made a small mistake, but overall it was a positive day. Overall, the confidence on the bike is there, so I hope to improve tomorrow."
A positive Friday not only for Marco but for the whole Aprilia team, which also placed the two Trackhouse team riders, Raul Fernandez and Ai Ogura, in Q2.
"I am happy for me and Raul and for the company, because they have worked so hard during the winter. We have to continue in this way, and even though we still struggle a bit in some places, it is still positive," commented the 26-year-old. " We have to enjoy this moment and work even harder tomorrow."
Even in the light of today's result, the Aprilia RS-GP seems to have made progress on the Stop&Go tracks, which have always caused it trouble.
"There is still some work to be done, but I like the bike. It has as its main feature a great front, which is exactly the aspect that impressed me back in Barcelona when I first tested it. The rear of the bike is a bit more ballistic than what I was used to, but we were able to improve it a lot in terms of traction and now the bike is much more stable - Bezzecchi explained - The difference can be felt especially under braking, which is an area where we had a chance to work a bit on this track, which has a lot of braking. In my opinion, we have made progress, although we still need to find a solution to make the bike smoother in any kind of braking. We'll see over the course of the weekend."
Among the areas where the Italian bike seems to be starting to perform excellently are the starts.
"The practice starts went well, the bike felt good and the devices also work very well," said Marco, before talking about how he found the bike in the scorching Thai sun: "How do I feel? Really cool! I'm kidding, of course I don't know how the bike was in recent years, I can say that compared to what I rode in the past it is hot, but the situation is not critical. Fortunately, I feel good physically and the heat is a normal condition in Thailand. I would not say that this bike is more physical than the others, because it is not. You simply have to ride differently and so you use different muscles or at different times, but all MotoGP bikes are quite physical."
The Aprilia rider then gave his opinion on the on-track form factor this weekend.
"I don't know, I still have to look at everyone's pace. Obviously, though, I think Marc Marquez is the fastest right now, and Alex also did very well in all the winter tests, he had a good time today, so I think he will be very fast as well. From Marquez on, everyone is very strong, but he seems to be the one who has a few tenths more than the others," he noted, "Let's say my goal is to do better than today. Then we'll see what I can do."
An unknown factor, as far as the first two races of the year are concerned, is also tire wear.
"In testing, I mostly lapped over the Sprint distance, both in Malaysia and here. The tire wear at the end always depends so much on the conditions, so the degradation we had today was different from the one in the tests," commented the man from Rimini. "Today I went a little slower than in the tests, lapping more in the low 1'30s than in the high 1'29s. Tomorrow morning I'd like to try the rear medium again to see how it goes. Unfortunately, having to do the time attack to get through Q2 there is little time to work, but we'll see tomorrow."
