The first free practice session of the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix nearly ended in a mishap for Marco Bezzecchi and Pol Espargaró, who had a dispute on the track and narrowly avoided a collision.

The first incident occurred in a corner, where Espargaró (GasGas Tech3/KTM) was running slower, and Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) caught up with him on the trajectory. A collision was narrowly avoided.

Unhappy with the situation, later during the start practices, the Italian made more than one contact with the rear wheel of Espargaró. An action that could very well lead to scrutiny and penalties from the race stewards. Watch the moment below.

O conteúdo Video: Marco Bezzecchi touched Pol Espargaró’s bike after a disagreement on the track aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Mathematically out of the title contention, Marco Bezzecchi enters the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix with the opportunity to secure the third-place finish. He holds a 69-point advantage over Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) with 74 points still up for grabs.

The Italian from Mooney VR46 Racing Team commented: ‘I’m back on track in Qatar after two good placings in Malaysia even though I’ve never managed to be completely comfortable in riding and I’m a bit sorry about this because the Sepang track is one of my favourite’.

In Qatar, Bezzecchi doesn’t hide his intention to definitively secure the third place: ‘I also really like this one at Losail, the atmosphere and the fact of racing at night, and then we arrive here with the certainty of P3 in the Championship really close. It would be a great result for me and the whole Team, the guys had a great season and they deserve it’.

O conteúdo Marco Bezzecchi aims to seal third place in Losail: ‘It would be a great result for the whole team’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Enea Bastianini is back! The dark days are over and the “Beast” is back winning in MotoGP, and with a great performance at the Malaysian GP, with the Italian on the factory Ducati taking the lead on the first lap and beating a highly motivated Álex Márquez and the duo of title contenders, Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín.

One more race, 11 points separating Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martín and one more “take” in the fight for the championship. All set for the start in Sepang!

Martín got off to a good start and in the first corner looked to be the leader, but it was Enea Bastianini who took the lead, with Álex Márquez coming in second, Bagnaia and Martín in third and fourth respectively. Marco Bezzecchi was fifth, with Jack Miller in sixth being the fastest of the Ducati riders, with Fabio Quartararo in seventh.

At the end of the second lap there was the first real glimpse of the most anticipated duel, with Martín briefly reaching the podium places by beating Bagnaia, who responded immediately and returned to his fight.

And it was here that the fight for the title came to a head, with Martín repeating his attack shortly afterwards, with the result being the same: Bagnaia was leading on two occasions.

Meanwhile, on the following lap, Joan Mir “led” Honda to a record 50 crashes in one year, with the #36 having its 23rd in 2023. Despite the crash, Mir looked physically fine.

The race was approaching its first third and Bastianini was leading by 0.7s over A. Márquez. Bagnaia was 2.090s behind and Martín, who had lost a lot of time to the Italian, was 3.002s off the front.

Miguel Oliveira was the next to fall, with five laps completed, and Raúl Fernández soon followed. Total disaster for the CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team.

With 12 laps to go, this was the top ten:

And don’t think Aprilia’s nightmare could end there! Aleix Espargaró had his third crash of the weekend and went down, but he got back on his bike and into the race and quickly put wildcard Álvaro Bautista – 19th – under the microscope… for a short time. The spaniard even finished the race soon afterwards and there were three Aprilia riders out of four who retred in total.

With the race officially halfway over, Bastianini led by 1s over A. Márquez, with the top five unchanged. Among the non-Ducati bikes, Jack Miller was still ahead of Quartararo, who was threatening to move up to sixth at any moment.

About a minute later, KTM suffered a setback: Quartararo beat Miller and Brad Binder crashed at turn 12.

The race was in a tricky phase, with some riders making crucial mistakes: now it was Takaaki Nakagami who crashed.

With six laps to go, 1.336s was the gap between Bastianini and Márquez. With the top four separated by 6.025s, eyes focussed on one of the “new” battles on track, with Bezzecchi having 0.4s on Quartararo, who quickly brought the gap down to 0.1s.

Quartararo had climbed into the top five: the French Yamaha rider was also joined by Franco Morbidelli, ninth, in the top ten.

Four laps to go and the feeling was that little could change: Bastianini was 1.412s ahead of A. Márquez, while Bagnaia was 1.807s ahead of Martín.

Confirmation was soon forthcoming and Bastianini was back to great results in MotoGP: it was the Italian’s first win as a factory rider.

As for the championship battle, there are now 14 points between Bagnaia and Martín.

O conteúdo Blood, sweat and tears at Sepang! The nightmare is over and Enea Bastianini is back to wins at MotoGP aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The warm-up for the MotoGP Malaysian GP didn’t go so well for Marco Bezzecchi. A crash sidelined the Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider prematurely.

It was less than two minutes before the checkered flag that the incident occurred. The Italian was in 11th place when he lost control of his Ducati at Sepang’s turn one.

It wasn’t a heavy fall or one with major consequences for Bezzecchi, who left the scene on his own. You can see the crash in the video we share below.

O conteúdo Video: Marco Bezzecchi ends Sepang warm-up on the asphalt aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marco Bezzecchi finished the Sprint race in 7th position. The Italian driver spoke about today and the feelings he had during today’s race.

In his debrief, Bezzecchi revealed that he is having some difficulties this weekend and his predictions for Sunday’s race in Malaysia.

– ‘ Qualifying wasn’t too bad. In the Sprint I had some difficulties at the start because of the grip, especially in the second part of the track I had a lot of trouble cornering. Seventh position wasn’t bad for me and today I was able to see some aspects to improve through the other riders that can help me for tomorrow. For tomorrow I’ll have to brake in a different way, in the first part of the circuit I was recovering but in the second I was losing, in the angle of inclination when cornering and cornering to the right mainly because of my physical problem which is still not 100%, so we’ll see tomorrow, I’ll do my best.’

O conteúdo ‘Seventh place wasn’t bad for me and today I was able to see some ways to improve’ – Marco Bezzecchi aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marco Bezzecchi arrives at the Malaysian GP in contention for a top-three finish in the MotoGP World Championship. While the title may be out of reach, he’s well on his way to securing at least third place overall, riding a previous-year Ducati with the satellite team Mooney VR46 Racing Team in just his second season in the premier class.

Following the triple-header in Indonesia, Australia, and Japan, Bezzecchi acknowledged the importance of the one-week break to rest and recover as he had recently fractured one collarbone: ‘Having a full week of recovery after three very busy weeks, like the previous ones, was a real treat. I rested, recovered as much as possible, recharged my batteries and I am ready to face this final season at my best’.

Sepang’s characteristics could play to his advantage and Bezzecchi highlighted his desire to be a key player in the final stages of this season: ‘Sepang, along with many other tracks in this final phase of the season, is among my favourite. Very fast, with long straights, an aspect that could be favorable to our technical pack. It won’t be easy, but we will give our best to be among the protagonists from here to Valencia’.

O conteúdo Marco Bezzecchi aims ‘to be among the protagonists’ until Valencia aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marco Bezzecchi enters the penultimate round of the MotoGP season in third place, well on track to secure a final podium in the World Championship in only his second season in the premier class.

Beyond the victories he already got, the Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider has been a regular contender at the front of the pack, finishing outside the top five only six times.

Loris Capirossi spoke to Radio Cusano Campus about this MotoGP season and pointed to Bezzecchi as the surprise of 2023: ‘This year, without a doubt, the surprise is Bezzecchi. Marco is having an incredible championship: he has dominated the bike and has an excellent team behind him’.

O conteúdo Loris Capirossi has no doubts: ‘Marco Bezzecchi is the surprise of the year’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marco Bezzecchi chose not to have a Ducati Desmosedici GP24 for the next MotoGP season and opted to continue with the Mooney VR46 Racing Team, where he is currently fighting for a podium spot in the championship. However, team manager Pablo Nieto believes that the rider is unlikely to continue in the long-term.

The Spaniard told GPOne.com that #72 has remained with a team he knows very well: ‘We have been together for several years, and this means that, first and foremost, he is a human being. Marco has found a family in the team, considering the time we spend away from home during the year. A glimpse is enough for him to understand everything’.

When asked if Bezzecchi might leave the team after 2024, Nieto admitted it is likely: ‘Of course. I would like to keep him forever, but it is a conceivable scenario because it would mean that we have worked well in recent years, carrying the company’s philosophy. On one hand, I would be sad, and on the other, I would be excited. If I were the team manager of a factory team, I would choose Marco immediately’.

O conteúdo Mooney VR46 is aware Marco Bezzecchi may leave after 2024 aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Emotion, suspense, unpredictability. That’s how another MotoGP race went, with Jorge Martin getting the better of the competition in Buriram. At the end of a race in which any of the three riders could have won, it was the Spaniard who completed the full race at the Thai GP.

The main race of the weekend got off to a positive start for Martin, who held on to first place, while Bagnaia also moved up to fourth, gaining two positions straight away. The Italian would end up back in sixth position on the first lap after some confusion, while Aleix Espargaro “drilled” through the middle to take second, with Brad Binder in third.

The first few laps were very intense and the riders were very close, and now it was Binder who beat A. Espargaro into second place, with Marc Marquez also overtaking Bagnaia to take sixth.

With five laps completed Martín was leading by 0.210s over Binder, who in turn had Alex Marquez at 0.422s. Luca Marini was fourth and A. Espargaro fifth.

Six laps finished and Miguel Oliveira was the first rider to abandon the race, with problems on his Aprilia RS-GP.

Bagnaia was showing some improvement and moved up to fifth.

That was the top ten after eight laps, with A. Marquez in the podium places:

Marini was the next to have no arguments with Bagnaia, who was now fourth. Martin remained two-tenths ahead of Binder, while A. Marquez was 0.448s off the lead. Marquez was 0.448s off the leader and had the #1 at 0.525s.

Halfway through the race, there was an important setback: A. Marquez crashed at turn 10 and was out of the race while riding in third position, thus “offering” the podium to Bagnaia. 0.626s separated third from first, Martín.

Johann Zarco, winner of the last GP, was a distant 13th, behind Joan Mir. The KTMs were also in opposite camps, with Binder in second, Jack Miller in 15th. The two GASGAS Tech3s were together at the bottom of the table in 18th and 19th.

In the final laps Martín was losing time to Binder and the South African was 0.135s behind. Fabio Quartararo, further back, climbed to seventh in a swap with Marc Marquez, at a stage when the Mooney VR46 Racing Team duo were battling for fourth place with Bezzecchi getting the better of Marini for the time being in fourth.

That was the top five with eight laps to go:

A few moments later Binder moved to the front but was slightly wide, allowing Martín to get back to the front of the race. The KTM rider briefly passed him again, but the #89 was able to recover: with five laps to go it was all wide open, as Bagnaia… was also closer, 0.223s off the lead.

At the start of the 23rd lap Binder moved into the lead and this time “closed” the door. Martin was effectively in second place for the first time and within two tenths of the lead.

The tension was almost palpable and Martin seemed very close to the limit, with Bagnaia just 0.111s away and waiting to pounce on the Spaniard. An absolutely decisive phase in the race, where any mistake could be irrecoverable.

Exciting! Martin, despite the difficulties, didn’t give up and on the third sector of the 25th lap he moved into the lead, and at the start of the last lap Bagnaia went from third to first for just a few metres, as Martin and Binder responded and everything went back to the initial formula.

The heart rate was sky-high and all eyes were on the fight for victory. It was the last attack, all or nothing, and Martin ended up getting the better of Binder and Bagnaia and winning, thus completing another GP full of triumphs.

Binder, after finishing second, was informed as soon as he crossed the finish line that he had lost a position for touching the green part of the track, giving second place to Bagnaia.

O conteúdo Breathtaking! Jorge Martin won the Thai GP after insane and unpredictable last lap aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Marco Bezzecchi finished the Sprint race in 6th position. The Italian driver of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team had a positive result, even with the physical difficulties he is going through after the surgery he underwent before the Australian GP.

Asked about his struggles during the race, the driver said he was disappointed with his difficulties during the Sprint.

– ‘ They weren’t good fights, I lost them all so it’s not a good fight when you lose. It would have been nice to have a good shoulder, but the bike was good and I felt good in the morning. Unfortunately I started 4th and the KTM started very well and Binder made me open up a bit, I’m not complaining because I would have done the same if I’d been in his position, then I lost the position to Marc and it was very difficult to recover because the temperature of the tires started to increase and physically I started to struggle, which didn’t help at all. Tomorrow the mentality is different and the way to approach the race will also be different, I hope to be able to deal better with the race situations and find time to recover’.

The Italian driver also revealed the best strategy for Sunday’s race.

– ‘ Tomorrow, one of the solutions will be to overtake immediately and keep out of the way of the drivers in front, but the best thing will be to overtake as soon as the opportunity arises. It won’t be easy, but as soon as I can overtake and cool down the tires a bit, it will be ideal for tomorrow’s race.

O conteúdo “They weren’t good fights, I lost all of them so it’s not a good fight when you lose” – Marco Bezzecchi aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.