Marco Bezzecchi finished the Qatar test with the tenth time, 0.726s behind the leader, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). Yesterday, on the last day of MotoGP pre-season, he completed a total of 49 laps, confirming progress compared to the Malaysia test.
These improvements were highlighted by the Italian from Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team, who feels relatively close to a large part of the field: ‘I can’t complain. I’m satisfied with this test. I still wanted to do a little more in attacking the stopwatch, but compared to Malaysia, I’m really happy. I felt much more comfortable on the bike and enjoyed riding much more. My pace wasn’t too bad. I think except for the two factory Ducatis that were very fast, but also Aleix [Espargaró] who was very fast – also [Jorge] Martín – all the other riders are very similar and I’m happy to be there too because in Malaysia I was much further away. It wasn’t too bad‘.
Regarding the area in which he has made the most progress compared to the Sepang tests, Bezzecchi explained: ‘Braking. I finally found a way to stop the bike much, much better. I still lack something in the angle in the final part of braking – but also in the initial part of accelerating. This bike has more grip, so I have difficulties making the bike turn in that area. But compared to the bike, I finally brake, so I no longer have difficulties in traction either. In the part with the difference in the engine, I was having some difficulties‘.
