The garage doors are closed, the season is officially over and Marco Bezzecchi can smile as he concludes the Valencia tests with a decidedly positive outcome. The Mooney VR46 rider closed the first day of 2024 as the best of the Ducati riders and, even if the stopwatch is not the focus of the tests, it is already a good start.
Off the GP22, Bez he got on the Desmosedici GP23, the one that won the title with Pecco Bagnaia and which will be the bike used for the 2024 season. The differences were immediately noticeable and the rider from Viserba began adapting to the “new” Ducati, more powerful compared to the one used in the season which ended on Sunday: “There are some differences on the bike, but the first impression was good. I needed the whole day to adapt to the bike because some things about my riding style were not perfect for this bike, but during the day we made some changes that gave me the possibility to ride better, in the end it was a good one day”.
“The engine is different, quite fast, but it is different in terms of delivery”, continues Bezzecchi, going into the specifics of the engine. However, it is too early to give too precise indications: “I don’t understand if it’s better or not, I haven’t ridden enough. For me the problem was more adapting to the characteristics of the bike when entering and braking, I struggle to gain confidence to enter corners like I did with the 22. But little by little I will adapt everything. I’m still not 100% satisfied, but I only tried it one day. Obviously I didn’t set a very specific goal, but to try to lap fast, get used to the bike and be quite competitive.”
In 2024, Bezzecchi will have a new teammate, Fabio Di Giannantonio, who at the last moment found a place in the Mooney VR46 team. After two years, he will no longer find Luca Marini when he looks at the other side of the garage: “It’s very strange to see him on another bike and with different colors from mine, because by now I was used to seeing him practically always near me. But it was nice to see Franco on the Ducati, the tests are always good. Basically, however, I looked at myself.”
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Marco Bezzecchi, VR46 Racing Team
“I have so many memories with Diggia“, tells Bez talking about his new teammate. “It’s been better lately because when we were a little younger, less mature, we got along less. Instead, in recent years we have both grown and have a very beautiful relationship of respect. Obviously I have less confidence with him than the other guys at the Academy, but I think it’s very normal because we see each other practically every day. But I’m sure we will build a good relationship this year. Then Diggia had a season finale that deserved this, so I’m happy for him. Like my character or not, I’m sorry if maybe sometimes what I think isn’t good for everyone, but I’m always clear with my conscience.”
Not just teammates, in Ducati the line-up changes and, why not, also the balance. Like a hurricane, Marc Marquez has arrived, who will race in the Gresini team. However, on Sunday, in his last race with Honda, he had an episode with Bezzecchi in the very early stages of the race and this led to the Italian ending up in the gravel. The fact that Marc was not sanctioned aroused the anger of Bez, who went to speak to the person concerned, but denies having said words to him that many newspapers reported: “I don’t want to talk about it, in the sense that we said some things to each other private things. But I read articles that really said bad things, that I would have said bad things, but that’s not the case. Of course I told him what I thought, you all know my ways. I told him what I thought and what I thought was right to say. He did the same to me. But I read some very bad things that I wouldn’t say even to my worst enemy.”
“I’m not that kind of person, but I’m someone who had the balls to go and tell him what he thought. This is what I did because I do this with everyone, I say what I think, I don’t care about the comments, but reading those mean words for me was a bad thing, which was useless, because it’s not the truth. I honestly do this, fake do-goodism makes me shit. In my opinion it’s not fair, we need to tell each other how they are. We are all rivals, it is obvious that there will always be rivalry, not everyone can be nice to you, you can’t get along with everyone, but showing up pretending to get along is even worse.”
Finally, Bezzecchi gives a comment on Marquez’s debut on the Ducati: “We all know that Marc is fast, we expected it to go like this. I wasn’t surprised, but I don’t think anyone was. The bike is competitive and he is a world champion. I followed him because he had slowed down and wasn’t moving. But I saw him a couple of times and he was already driving very well”.
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