Marco Bezzecchi explains why he’s ‘quite happy’ about crashing Aprilia bike at Thailand Grand Prix

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Aprilia have had a difficult start to their 2025 MotoGP campaign. Star rider Jorge Martin has been sidelined with injury.

The defending champion suffered a violent highside at turn two in Sepang during pre-season testing. Martin was taken to hospital before being sent back to Europe for surgery, ending his pre-season early.

Aprilia had hoped that the Spaniard would be fit enough to return for the season opener in Buriram. However, Martin was ruled out of the Thailand Grand Prix after suffering more injuries in a training crash.

Martin has a ‘particularly troublesome’ issue with his left hand fractures which could see him out for a lengthy period of time. The 27-year-old has already been ruled out of Argentina, with talks suggesting Martin could miss up to three months.

Lorenzo Savadori will take his place at Aprilia, with Marco Bezzecchi being the team’s so-called lead driver in Martin;s absence. But at the season-opening weekend in Thailand, the Italian suffered an accident of his own.

Marco Bezzecchi is ‘quite happy’ after crashing his Aprilia in practice in Thailand

Bezzecchi finished practice for the Thailand Grand Prix in fourth, securing him a place in Q2 on Saturday. Francesco Bagnaia was the notable surprise as he finished outside the top 10, leaving him to battle it out in Q1.

The Aprilia was two tenths off of pacesetter Alex Marquez on the Gresini Ducati. Bezzecchi carried the momentum from a solid pre-season with the Noale-based outfit.

READ MORE: Everything to know about Marco Bezzecchi from net worth to race number

Massimo Rivola says Bezzecchi is relishing the pressure of setting up with Martin out of action. But that was quickly put into question when the 26-year-old came off his bike in the closing stages of practice.

Bezzecchi had a fall at turn three in the last couple of minutes of the session. Thankfully, his best time had already been set, but his accident would have put a dampener on proceedings at Aprilia.

But according to MotoGP journalist Simon Patterson, the Italian was ‘quite happy’ about his crash. Posting on X (formerly Twitter), Patterson shared that the Aprilia rider had ‘learned things’ as it was ‘the first time he’s really pushed’ on the RS-GP25.

Sylvain Guintoli warns Marco Bezzecchi of Aprilia issue ahead of the Thailand Grand Prix

Bezzecchi’s performance in practice will be encouraging heading into the race as he proved he can be amongst the Ducatis. But Thailand has notoriously been a difficult race for Aprilia.

Last year’s edition of the Thai Grand Prix was one of the team’s worst outings. Maverick Vinales was the highest-placed rider in the race with P7, nearly nine seconds off the lead, while the Sprint was even worse with Raul Fernandez finishing best with 14th for Trackhouse Racing.

The heat at Buriram presented a difficult test for Aprilia as it caused issues with their bike. Sylvain Guintoli warned Aprilia the heat issue is still there heading into the 2025 event.

Mat Oxley fears for the riders’ safety due to the scorching temperatures that are forecast over the weekend. If Aprilia cannot fix their problem with the bike overheating, Bezzecchi and Savadori could be in for a challenging race.