He is undoubtedly the driver who is a candidate to be Pecco Bagnaia’s first opponent on this first day of the Dutch Grand Prix: Marco Bezzecchi concludes Friday in Assen with the best time after dominating both sessions. The morning time was adjusted in the afternoon to bring the reference to 1’32”063, coinciding with a complicated Friday for the reigning world champion.
However, the Mooney VR46 rider does not rest, on the contrary. He believes that this result cannot be over-relied upon. The time trial is needed in qualifying, just as points are awarded in the race, Friday’s free practice is a very good preparation for the weekend, in any case for the rider of the Valentino Rossi team: “I’m not the man of the day, Friday is a day that counts for nothing! It’s only needed to go to Q2!”.
“I made a good start, I’m happy, but Friday counts up to a certain point. But I’m happy because I was able to be fast both in terms of pace and over one flying lap. I missed the pace at the Sachsenring a bit. I tried all the tires and I’m satisfied because we managed to complete our plan. Everything went smoothly except for a small problem with the bike this morning, but the guys were very good at solving it”, explained Bez, recounting his Friday.
Undoubtedly Assen was the best start to the weekend of the season for Bezzecchi, who took his first podium in the MotoGP right here last year: “I’ve never had two firsts on Friday, in general it was a very positive day. But it’s still Friday. In the end, I think I rode quite well, obviously there are some points on the track where I need to improve a little because others are better than me. There’s always room to do a little better, but for the moment I’m happy”.
“Starting Friday well, more than for the final result, helps the mindset of the weekend”, he explains, then going on to think about the two days that will follow. “Now it’s very important to get off to a good start, because when you have to chase, you don’t get there or, if you get there, it’s too late. So starting well is essential, the goal tomorrow is to do a good qualifying and try to start as far forward as possible. Here the first two rows are always the goal, but if you can do something more, it would be better. I started fifth at Sachsenring too but it wasn’t easy, because then the KTMs and Hondas start strong and always screw you over at the first corner. Then let’s try to have a good Sprint and get some information for Sunday too”.
Although Bagnaia showed himself to be in more difficulty at the start of the weekend, Bez he doesn’t feel like excluding him from the fight, on the contrary. He believes that the official Ducati rider is a reference on the Assen track and hopes to be able to fight with him in the top positions: “Head-to-head with Pecco? I hope! But whoever it is, I hope to be in front! Then if Pecco is there, I’m happy, it will be difficult because he is very strong, but the others won’t congratulate either ”.
“It’s a motivation, as always, we do this to push ourselves. He’s very strong here, so I wouldn’t have too many expectations, in the sense that if I screwed him today it doesn’t mean that I screwed him tomorrow too. Pecco won here last year, but historically it’s a track where he’s scary. So I’m happy for that, but not too much, because I want to continue like this. Margin? It’s always there, but the others have it too, you have to try to be as good as possible”, concludes Bezzecchi.
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