Marco Bezzecchi feels his chances of a strong result in the Italian Grand Prix sprint were already over at the first turn, as he conceded more points to Jorge Martin in the MotoGP standings.
Bezzecchi impressed in Saturday morning’s qualifying session at Mugello, guiding his factory Aprilia to pole position ahead of Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez and team-mate Martin.
It represented a timely return to form for the Italian rider, who was comprehensively outperformed by Martin at Le Mans and endured another lacklustre weekend at Barcelona a fortnight ago.
But Bezzecchi misjudged his braking at the start and got swallowed up by his rivals, dropping as low as sixth on the opening lap. He managed to repass LCR rookie Diogo Moreira and reigning champion Marc Marquez over the next few laps but lacked the speed to trouble the podium finishers, eventually finishing fourth.
The 27-year-old admitted to some disappointment over the result, with Martin slashing his advantage to 12 points in the championship.
“I simply braked too early in the first corner; it was a miscalculation,” he said.
“I wanted a little bit more. I didn’t expect anything [but] it is true that when you start from pole position, you always would like to finish better.
“But, as I said, I made a mistake in the first corner, I lost many places, and immediately from that point I understood that the sprint was gone, so I tried to maximise everything with this error, and fourth place was the maximum I could do.”
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Both race winner Fernandez and Martin opted for Michelin’s medium rear tyre in the sprint, a strategy that gave them a comprehensive edge over the opposition. Third-placed Fabio di Giannantonio, the lead soft tyre runner, finished over three seconds behind, while Bezzecchi finished another second adrift in fourth.
Asked where he would have finished had he managed to retain the lead at the start, “It’s impossible to say for sure.
“I think that the race was a bit worse because of the mistake in the first corner rather than the tyre choice. But you will never know, and I also will never know.”
Bezzecchi started the 2026 season with three consecutive grand prix victories, establishing himself as the early favourite for the title.
However, he has now gone three weekends without winning a grand prix or a sprint, leaving him under pressure from Martin in the championship.
Bezzecchi is unsure what strategy would work best for him in Sunday’s full-distance 23-lap race at Mugello.
“With the longer race, the pace will be a little bit slower, so the soft has some clear advantage over the medium,” he said.
“For sure, it’s different to ride with the soft or with the medium. In the end, I’m not completely sure about the decision, but we will analyse everything as always in the box to try to make the best decision for us.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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