Marco Bezzecchi bid farewell to the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team with a ninth-place finish in the MotoGP Solidarity GP of Barcelona. The final round of the season proved challenging for the rider, who had to manage his emotions and deal with tyre difficulties.
The #72 said: ‘The race wasn’t too bad. I expected to finish the tyre a bit later, but in the end I brought some points home, and it was a very emotional weekend for me. I tried my best to separate the emotions from the sporting side, but it wasn’t easy. Anyway, it was a decent weekend, and now we start a new chapter’.
Explaining the factors that led to premature tire wear, Bezzecchi stated: ‘In order to avoid wearing the rear tyre, I was going quite fast inside the corner, but the bike wasn’t turning a lot, so I was pulling a lot the handlebar and I finished the front tyre first. So, afterwards I had to slow down entering the corner and go earlier on the gas, and then doing this, in a couple of laps I also finished the rear. In the last ten laps I was surviving’.
Despite the struggles, the Italian managed to secure ninth place on the final lap: ‘Fortunatly, on the last lap I managed to overtake Pedro [Acosta]. This was a nice moment, but that’s it’.