Marco Bezzecchi had a podium within reach in the MotoGP French Grand Prix Sprint race. However, when he was in second place behind leader Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati), he suffered a crash that led to his retirement.
The Pertamina Enduro VR46 rider admitted that he still has some issues with braking and turning, although he assures that his Ducati is at a good level in Le Mans: ‘It’s still a bit there, I’m trying to compensate with the riding. But sometimes is difficult and when you are pushing a lot and you have to ride over the problems is not really easy. But this weekend the base is not too bad. Matteo and the crew made a wonderful job with the bike. The bike works well, I just made a small mistake that made me crash’.
The start was also not easy for Bezzecchi, as he himself mentioned: ‘In the first lap, he was much, much better than me, especially on turns 6, 7 and 8, and he opened a small gap. For me, the end of braking and mid-corner, with the new tyre, I’m still struggling a lot to make the bike turning, so he gained me every time’.
The Italian even managed to pick up the pace afterward, but realizing that he was having to take too many risks, he played it safer until the mistake that led to his retirement: ‘Then, in the second and third laps I was really fast and I catch a bit, but I was too much on the limit to try to really get close to him. So I had to slow down a bit because I was starting to make some mistakes. Then I just tried to continue to look at him, to escape with him, until I made a mistake’.