Marco Bezzecchi seemed calm as he came in 11th at the finish line, but he knew that he missed an opportunity. By now, the Aprilia rider has gotten used to podiums and victories, so Malaysia was a sort of setback that he'd like to make up for in two weeks in Portugal.
"The GP didn't help improve the weekend, since as I struggled a lot today. I probably made the wrong tire choice, and shouldn't have gone for the medium on the front, but I was convinced that, with this temperature, starting from the bottom would help me suffer less than yesterday. Instead, it was the opposite. While I didn't do too badly in braking, I had several grip problems in bending and in corners, so it was impossible for me to maneuver. Only a brief battle with Binder, which I lost, by the way. I tried to overtake him a couple of times, but he's very strong in the mele, and I didn't have enough confidence to venture a move. Yesterday, I managed to recover well, but a little less so this Sunday. However, I tried to fight to bring home as much as I could, and this was the result. I feel I shouldn't complain," he said, revealing that he wasn't surprised by the drop in performance compared to recent standards.
"We knew it would be a bit more complex here than Phillip Island, since we already tested in February and knew that the bike would behave differently here. I have to say that the behavior was better than in the winter, so I'm satisfied, even though we still have work to do. We discovered a lot of things this weekend and already have several ideas. The result isn't the best, but it's all part of the process, and we'll continue to roll up our sleeves to improve," he claimed.
He did still somewhat regret not being able to find the ideal tire combination. "With a different tire choice, I could've had a similar performance as yesterday and fought with Bastianini and Di Giannantonio. Certainly, the win wasn't realistic but, on the finale, doing any better than I did was impossible," he admitted.
But the spirits of the MotoGP line-up ended up being bit more somber becuase of the terrible accident between Rueda and Dettwiler in the Moto3, which the rider from Romagna wanted to comment about from the point of view of communications. "It was very hard and still is because we don't have specific information. I think it would be good to have some more precise news. For now, I only know that both are stable. Starting the GP like this wasn't the best thing, without knowing anything and seeing two helicopters take off. I think it's our right to know, because we're riders and, it's true that we have to go out on the track and fight for the best performance, but it would be good to do it with a clear head," he argued.
Returning to his expectations for the Malaysian weekend, the 26-year-old commented, "In general, we're growing a lot, and we've also improved compared to testing at this circuit but, as I mentioned, I expected to struggle more here. Today's conditions in terms of grip were strange and, in fact, the race was slow. Plus, there was a temperature we had never had over the weekend. Personally, I had the wrong front tire. I had chosen the medium knowing that I'd be in the pack for most of the race. Then I was worried because of the temperatures. I was wrong, because I couldn't corner, and I didn't have corner grip. I was better in braking, but it wasn't enough, so I did less overtaking than yesterday. The work from this weekend will still help us in the future because we also found solutions. The guys were great because, despite the difficulties, they worked hard, like I'm also doing."
Finally, he took stock of the rounds between Asia and Oceania, "I'm happy because we struggled and grew. Despite the critical issues, we always managed to do our best, so they were four positive non-European races for us. Among other things, I also had a lot of fun. A good group is being created with the team, and I thank them for that. But now there are two crucial rounds left, so we have to go home, roll up our sleeves, and try to get back up in front."