Aprilia hails Marco Bezzecchi’s “champion” MotoGP response: A “great sign”

Marco Bezzecchi holds the MotoGP title lead as the championship returns to Europe following the opening three flyaway rounds.

The Italian has extended his grand prix winning streak to five races, dating back to the end of 2025, scoring 81 points over the opening rounds.

That is almost three and a half times more than Bezzecchi had managed at the same stage last season.

However, his advantage over Aprilia team-mate Jorge Martin is just four points.

That's because while Martin has scored in every race, Bezzecchi threw away points with Sprint crashes while holding the early lead in Buriram and again while hunting down Francesco Bagnaia for victory at COTA.

Without those errors, Bezzecchi could have added another 24 points to his tally. Instead, his only Sprint points this year are from a fourth place in Brazil.

After COTA, Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola focused on Bezzecchi’s response to those setbacks.

"I have to say that when he makes a mistake on Saturday, he reacts like a champion on Sunday. That's a great sign,” Rivola told Sky Italia.

“And I don't think Jorge is just physically challenged, but he's still missing that last bit of confidence to be as explosive as he can be.”

With Aprilia riding the crest of a wave, Rivola admitted the upcoming one-month break until Jerez - caused by the Qatar postponement - may not be ideal.

“Usually, long breaks help those chasing more than those ahead,” Rivola said, before again suggesting that down-to-the-wire aerodynamic development has made the difference for Aprilia this year.

“But I have to say that… we got here a bit 'breathless'. We arrived at the Sepang [test] really tight, we wanted to push the final aerodynamic developments until the very last day, we really stressed the company.

“Noale did a tremendous job, and seeing it pay off like this makes me really happy.

“What will this break be like? I see Bez very focused, determined, focused with a very clear goal.

“And Jorge will definitely benefit from a bit of recovery. Today I saw him a little tired at the end of the race, his arms were hurting. They did well.”

The MotoGP rules only allow factories to introduce one in-season update to Aero Body parts, limiting the ability of rivals to catch up.

Meanwhile, on a day when reigning champion Marc Marquez saw his race limited by a long lap penalty on the way to fifth, Rivola highlighted that Bezzecchi won despite damaged aero from the opening lap contact with Pedro Acosta.

“Marco's pace was penalised by the lack of a rear wing, especially under hard braking, and there are a lot of those here,” Rivola said.

“I haven't had a technical debrief with him yet, but the rear of the bike was definitely lighter, less stable, and therefore more difficult to control.

“He did a great job at adapting, really good. So if others think aerodynamics don't matter, let them think so…”

Bezzecchi crossed the line 2.036s ahead of Martin, with Acosta completing the podium for KTM, 4.497s from the Italian.

Meanwhile, Ai Ogura was closing on Acosta for third when a technical issue for his Trackhouse Aprilia quashed hopes of an historic RS-GP one-two-three.