Marco Bezzecchi credited Aprilia’s strategy that helped him overcome a double long lap penalty to secure a MotoGP podium finish at Phillip Island.
The Italian started the race from the middle of the front row after narrowly missing out on pole position, and led the early laps before serving his penalties on Laps 5 and 7 for his Lap 1 collision with Marc Marquez in Indonesia.
Bezzecchi rejoined the race in sixth place, before rising to third and sealing another double podium for the Noale-based squad.
“It has been nice. Super tough, because I never thought, honestly, about the victory,” he said in MotoGP’s post-race interview.
“Only the journalists thought about it. But I didn’t even expect a podium. So, to be honest, I tried my best to be fast in the moment that I did the first long lap to not finish it inside the pack.
“My strategy worked well. To be completely honest, it was the strategy of my team – not me. After the second long lap, I was only sixth, so better than I expected.
“But, having pushed so much in the beginning, I couldn’t stress the tyres more.
“If not, I was going to be dead in the last laps. So, super happy when I fought with Pedro [Acosta].
“I thought that fourth was the maximum. It’s super hard to overtake him. Then I saw with Alex [Marquez] I was catching him.
“At least I tried.”
Marco Bezzecchi unsure on Aprilia’s true competitiveness amid Ducati struggles
Bezzecchi’s podium finish added to Aprilia’s good fortunes, following Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez’s first-ever MotoGP victory.
The 26-year-old has claimed seven Grand Prix podiums and two Sprint victories in 2025, showcasing both his and the RS-GP’s competitiveness.
Now that he’s overtaken Francesco Bagnaia for third in the championship standings, it could be argued that his recent form puts Aprilia on par with the dominant Ducati.
When asked if Aprilia is a better bike than Ducati at this point, he shared: “I don’t know. For me, it’s impossible to make a comparison. I don’t ride the Ducati; I’m an Aprilia rider.
“But what I can say is, I feel super good with my bike. The engineers are doing a wonderful job.
“To be honest, we’ve been quite consistent. Of course, there are tracks where the characteristics of the bike are super good.
“There are other tracks where the bike is super good. But everyone is a little bit closer, and maybe we have to try to work more.
“So, I don’t know how to answer in a specific way, but I think we are making steps forward.”
READ MORE – Raul Fernandez earns maiden MotoGP victory in dominant Phillip Island display
Discussion about this post