It may not have been a spectacular Friday for Marco Bezzecchi in Barcelona, but he achieved his goal of making it straight into the Q2, and that’s enough to leave him feeling satisfied at the end of the day.
Fifth place is certainly an excellent result, but it’s perhaps in race pace where Bezzecchi seems to have his best cards to play this weekend, perhaps aiming for a victory and pulling further ahead in the championship he currently leads, even if by just a single point over his teammate, Martín.
This morning, Marco also received a sort of official endorsement from Valentino Rossi, who believes Bez is now ready to ain for the big prize in the MotoGP. But Marco dodged the direct question.
"When I see him, I’ll tell him what I think!" he replied to those who asked him to comment on what Valentino said before analyzing the day.
"The overall result is definitely positive," he said. "My goal was to go straight into the Q2, and I managed to do it, so I’m happy. I was competitive in the race pace. I would've expected a bit more in the time attack. I need to improve my riding a bit in some areas, but it was a good day."
The conditions seemed tricky.
"The conditions were difficult, but that’s how they were. I don’t think tomorrow will be much different. It’s definitely tough, as is keeping the front tire temperature up, partly because this is a track that's rough on the left side even when it’s hot. But, in general, there’s no grip even when it’s hotter."
It was tough for Aprilia here in 2025. Do you feel relieved today?
"Relief, no. As always, I didn’t set my expectations too high, but it’s also true that it’s hard not to think at all about last year’s feelings, which weren’t the best. I didn’t have a bad Friday in 2025, but then I kind of hit a wall. I’d say we started with a decent Friday. I haven’t seen the others’ lap times yet. I don’t want to be convinced of something only to have the data prove me wrong.”
Every team has two bikes in the Q2. Did you expect that?
"Everyone is improving because everyone here is working to get better all the time. I think this situation is the result of everyone’s commitment. It’s clear that the riders are fast. Then there are always tracks that favor one bike over another. Here, there’s not much grip, and that balances things out a bit."
Is the cold a big problem?
"It’s clear that it’s always better to ride when it’s a bit warmer. Unfortunately, we’ve have this weather, and there’s nothing we can do about it. I think it also depends on the track layout. When there are left-hand turns, they come after we’ve already done a lot of right-hand turns. Then there’s a very long straight. The weather doesn’t help, but that’s just how it is."
In what ways has the RS-GP improved here compared to 2025?
"The bike isn’t that different than 2025. But we’ve made progress in some areas. I also think I’m riding better here than I did in 2025. I know we can still improve a lot, but, for now, it’s not bad."
Did you work with the soft tire just for the Sprint, or do you plan to use it for the main race as well?
"Today I worked a lot on the soft tire. That will be the tire for the Sprint. I think it’s too early to tell if I can use it in the main race as well, but we need to work on it. For now, I’d say it’s a possibility. Tomorrow we’ll analyze the data and see."