Aprilia MotoGP star Marco Bezzecchi says he never believed he could win the Australian Grand Prix after receiving a double long penalty on Thursday.
Bezzecchi was always going to face a tough fight at Phillip Island, having been penalized by stewards for a collision with the Ducati team earlier in the weekend. Mark Marquez in Indonesia.
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But the Aprilia rider showed quick pace from the first practice session to take pole by three tenths before dominating Saturday's sprint race and establishing his position as the fastest rider in the field.
This led many people in the paddock, including some of his rivals, to speculate that he could overcome the double long penalty and claim a sensational victory on Sunday.
He had already had an incredible recovery ride at Mandalika, fighting off a slow start in the sprint that saw him drop to eighth place and take a last-lap victory over Fermin Aldeguer.
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The Italian did show good pace at the Australian Grand Prix and finished third behind Raul Fernandez and the VR46. Fabio di Giannantoniobut said he went into the race believing even the podium was out of his reach.
“It was nice,” he said. “Super hard because I honestly never thought about winning. Only the journalists thought about it, but I didn’t even expect a podium.
“As the race went on I tried my best to be [as] far [at the front for] that moment when I rode the first long lap to avoid finishing inside the pack. And my strategy, fortunately, worked. To be honest, it was my team's strategy, not mine.
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“Then after the second long lap, luckily I was only sixth. So better than I expected.
“But after putting in so much effort at the beginning, I couldn’t put any more stress on the tires. Otherwise I would have died in the last laps.
“Very happy when I fought Pedro. [Acosta]. I thought fourth was the maximum. It's very difficult to overtake him. So I said, “Okay, that's it. Let’s try to get away from him and secure this fourth place.”
“But then I saw the same thing with Alex. [Marquez]I caught him. So I said, “Okay, let's keep pushing.” And at least I tried.
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Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Bezzecchi led at the start of the race from second place on the grid and quickly moved ahead of Fernandez by more than a second.
After serving his first penalty, he dropped to third behind Fernandez and Acosta, but on the second long lap he remained in sixth place.
He initially waited behind Quartararo, but later overtook him, Acosta and finally Márquez with two laps to go to take third place.
Bezzecchi admitted he had to be careful taking the long lap into Turn 4 to avoid running wide and facing another penalty.
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“[With] on the second long lap I tried my best [like] in the first one, so I don’t know if it was slower or not,” he said.
“Of course I wanted to be fast, but I also didn’t want to risk touching the green and having to go around long again. So I kept it together. [margin of a] a couple of tenths instead of losing another two seconds.
“Then I tried to cope. First of all, I needed to get the tire to breathe a little, so it wasn't a decision to slow down; it was something I had to do.
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“But then, when I realized that I was not wasting time managing [tyres]I said, “Okay, let's try to be patient and, if possible in the end, try to be closer.” And then I tried it.”
Bezzecchi would not answer the question of whether he would have repeated his sprint victory if he had not had to take a penalty on Sunday.
“It's impossible to say because at the end I certainly did the race with two long laps,” he said.
“I don't know because Raul was very good this weekend and I felt good with the bike. The whole Aprilia factory is amazing. So let's just say everything is fine.”
Read also:
MotoGP Australian Grand Prix: Raul Fernandez takes victory from outsider, Marco Bezzecchi on podium
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