The first hat-trick of this MotoGP season finale concludes with the Thai Grand Prix. Mainly Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin are fighting for the title, but Marco Bezzecchi should not be excluded from the battle, despite being more out of the way in mathematical and physical terms.
In fact, the first two races of the hat-trick proved to be tougher than expected in Mandalika Bez he arrived fresh from surgery to reduce the broken collarbone, while at Phillip Island he carried the consequences of his recovery, which he is still implementing to get back to full fitness: “I can’t complain too much, we removed the points and this was a good step forward for me. The skin no longer feels tight, I feel better and I’m also very proud of the scar! Without the race on Sunday, I had an extra day to rest and do therapy even three times a day. Whenever I had some free time, I tried to work on recovering my shoulder and arm, which created some problems and was the most difficult aspect in Australia. Overall, I’m very happy to get back on the bike and see how it goes.”
“Indonesia was really painful, five days had passed since the surgery, everything hurt,” explains Bezzecchi. “In Australia it was more about fatigue, less pain but a lot of fatigue. I expected less difficulty and instead it didn’t go that way, so for this race I hope to be a little stronger and in better shape. I don’t want to say too much about what I can do this weekend, but I knew I would have to suffer in some way, I was already prepared. I can handle the pain and I have to try to push.”
However, Buriram could be a favorable track for the rider of Valentino Rossi’s team, who last year achieved his first pole position in MotoGP here: “It’s a track that I like very much, last year I was fast and I got my first pole position, it was a beautiful moment. I like very decisive braking, I like when on a track you have to brake hard, but this track is particular because there is a section where you let it slide a lot. I really like these mixed conditions, I also think I’ve improved a lot in braking this year, so let’s see how it goes, how I can ride. First I have to feel how my body is doing, then we’ll start working on it.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team
73 points separate the Mooney VR46 rider from the top and the shoulder injury that has complicated these last race weekends gets in the way. Now fighting for the championship is not impossible, but certainly difficult: “At the moment it’s tough, I’m a bit too far behind. Pecco and Jorge are a little stronger than me at the moment. Returning to Indonesia so quickly led me to have the goal of surviving and not recovering. I’ve seen that the longer you take a break, the longer it takes to fully recover. As soon as there was the possibility, I wanted to get back on the saddle so as not to lose momentum.”
“Brad Binder, for example, is not that close in the championship, so maybe I managed not to lose enough. But it’s true that it was difficult to lose points compared to them. I will fight until the end and if there is a chance, I will give 100%. Victory? It’s always a goal, but in my opinion the realistic goal is to try to fight for the podium again, given that in Indonesia I finished fifth and in Australia sixth. I’m not far, but it won’t be easy to get there. Unfortunately physically I am not 100%”, he continues Bez.
Even though we are in October, the rider market is still in the spotlight, with Honda having to replace Marc Marquez next year. But in 2025 many things will change, many contracts will expire and Bezzecchi himself could be ready to make the jump to an official team. Pablo Nieto, VR46 team manager, expressed his desire to always keep him with him and the driver from Viserba is honored by this. However, he does not forget his desire to grow further.
“Nieto is biased!”, he states smiling. “It makes me very happy, I also get along very well with him, I have a great working relationship and friendship. I would love for all the teams to fight for me! I would be stupid if I said otherwise. The important thing is to finish this year well, do 2024 and then we’ll see. Matteo and I write to each other every weekend about the lessons, about the things we did wrong and that we could have done better. So all those written things that I will reread will be objectives to improve for next year, then to be faster and faster and win more and more races.”
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