Marco Bezzecchi finished the Assen Sprint Race in the same position he secured in qualifying, which was fourth. Not an exciting result, but at least better compared to almost all his rivals in the championship, with the exception of Di Giannantonio, who with his podium today nibbled away at Bezzecchi's lead slightly in the overall standings.
However, considering that in 2026 Sprints have always been Bezzecchi's Achilles' heel, this 4th place takes on a different meaning and can be an excellent stepping stone for the main event of the weekend, which is tomorrow's Grand Prix.
"I am 50% satisfied - was Bezzecchi's view - You know me by now and know that I always like to do a bit better. It’s also true that the way I felt in the first laps of this Sprint was the best I could do. Unfortunately, I struggled a bit and immediately lost positions, including those to Raul and Diggia. The first laps were not as incisive as I would like. I always improve as the Sprint progresses, and I found a good rhythm and made up some ground. Overall, it was a good day, with a good qualifying that’s also good for tomorrow and a Sprint where I wasn’t at my best, but at least I achieved the best I could."
Do you think you need to work more on the bike or your style for tomorrow to do better?
"I think it's always a mix. Technically, you can find a thousand solutions, but sometimes the rider does more with a small change than with all the modifications. We’ll need to analyze the data and understand how to improve, both from a technical standpoint with the bike and concerning my riding. But all in all, it's not bad. Both Raul and Ogura were very fast, and we can try to see what they did."
Does it sting being beaten by the Trackhouse riders?
"It's a satellite team, but the bikes are identical to ours; we have four identical bikes. It bothers me to be beaten by them or any others. Raul usually manages the tyres in the best way possible at the start, he had a great rhythm right away. Ogura, on the other hand, does the opposite. Today they were both faster than me. I took a couple too many laps to go as fast as them."
Did you experience the same issues as Martìn?
"I'm not sure how Jorge felt. But what I will do is look at the data and improve."
At least you had a good duel.
"Jorge made a small mistake at turn 8, I came out normally, not like a bullet. I passed him at 9, but I heard the sound of the bike and knew he would dive back inside. Fortunately, I managed to counter. It was a nice battle; hopefully, we can do it again tomorrow but further ahead."
How do you assess the first start without the front holeshot device?
"I'd say it was normal, but I didn’t have enough time to assess. How many starts do you do in 5 years? This was my first without the front holeshot. In terms of confidence, it wasn't bad, but I can’t provide a clear comment. I'll leave that for tomorrow! I'm not quite sure how to assess it yet."
Usually, you struggle in Sprints and then do better in the GP.
"Let's hope that's the case tomorrow too. I hope to make a good improvement for tomorrow. I think we worked well this weekend, I had a good pace, although in practice with the soft tyres I had a better pace than today. I don't want to rest even for a moment, I'll go back to the box and work to try to improve for tomorrow."
Will tyre choice be an important variable?
"It's not clear yet, maybe we’ll go with the medium. But here in 2022, I podiumed with the soft, even though a lot of time has passed, it means there's a possibility. Maybe it'll be a good gamble, like in 2022."