Polesitter Bezzecchi “a bit slower” than MotoGP rivals, still tops Austrian GP warm-up

Austrian Grand Prix polesitter Marco Bezzecchi hopes he can “find something more” in Sunday’s feature race after missing the podium in the sprint.

The factory Aprilia rider was unable to convert his pole in the sprint on Saturday, in which he finished a disappointing fourth behind the Marquez brothers and Pedro Acosta.

But the Italian was fastest in Sunday morning’s warm-up session at the Red Bull Ring, offering some hope that he could take the fight to Ducati and KTM in the grand prix.

While he acknowledged that he was no match for his rivals on Saturday, Bezzecchi can draw comfort from the fact that Aprilia is no stranger to making substantial overnight improvements. Bezzecchi will remember the step Aprilia made between Saturday and Sunday at the Dutch Grand Prix in June, when he pushed Marc Marquez hard in the main race.

And fresh in the memory, Bezzecchi’s pole position in Austria followed a Friday on which the entire team struggled and Bezzecchi was only 18th fastest. Tips from mentor Valentino Rossi, among other strides on set-up, led to the turnaround.

“The sprint was exactly how I expected,” he said after the Saturday race. “OK, in qualifying we recovered a lot from the day yesterday, but we are still missing a bit of work in terms of pace. So, this morning [in FP2] I tried to work [on race set-up], but I didn’t make the gap how I wanted. It was not enough.

“So, I expected these names [the Marquez brothers and Acosta] plus Pecco, to be honest. Pecco had an issue, so at the end it was pretty much like I expected.”

Asked after the sprint if he could win on Sunday, Bezzecchi said: “It’s always a target of course. We have to be ambitious, but also realistic. At the moment, I’m a bit slower in terms of pace, but I will try my best to work tonight to find something more, and be competitive tomorrow.”

The signs on Sunday morning were good in that regard. Bezzecchi’s warm-up time was 0.199s faster than that of Francesco Bagnaia aboard the second factory Ducati, with Marc Marquez fifth-quickest and 0.403s behind the British Grand Prix winner.

While times set in the warm-up have limited significance, it’s worth noting that Bezzecchi’s late lap of 1m29.350s was the only one quicker than the best historical race lap on this layout, the 1m29.519s set by Bagnaia on his way to victory last year.

For context, this weekend’s pace has generally been slower than in the past. Unusually for MotoGP in 2025, Bezzecchi’s Saturday pole (1m28.060s) came nowhere near Jorge Martin’s 2024 lap record of 1m27.748s. His warm-up time bucked that trend, however, suggesting there is still room for riders to make a move up the order.

What could make all of that academic, however, is the fickle Styrian weather. The paddock is keeping a wary eye on the skies ahead of the start of the race, with rain a distinct possibility.