Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez’s recent MotoGP form has been so scintillating that his rivals have no answer for him and Ducati.
The Spaniard leads the riders’ championship by 120 points heading into the summer break, and has just managed five consecutive weekend doubles.
At this point, nobody has been a clear match for Marquez, and he seems set to romp to his seventh title, becoming the oldest champion in MotoGP history along the way.
Joining Ducati has turned out to be a masterstroke. As hard as leaving Honda was, few believed that he could get back to this level of performance after his injury in 2020. He has proven everyone wrong.
An Aprilia chief has sent Marquez a warning and is absolutely sure that he can be beaten, particularly by the right riders on the right bike.
During another dominant weekend at Brno, Neil Hodgson was ‘struggling’ to watch Marquez because his riding style appeared to be the opposite of what it was at Honda. He has had to adapt.
Carlo Pernat backs Marco Bezzecchi to cause Marc Marquez more problems than Francesco Bagnaia
Marco Bezzecchi had no chance of beating Marquez at the Czech Grand Prix, and he realised it pretty quickly.
However, the Italian rider has been very impressive over the last few races, and it appears that he and Aprilia have made some genuine improvements.
Bezzecchi appears to be a real podium contender at every race, and finding an extra tenth here or there could see him challenge Marquez. That’s far better than Francesco Bagnaia has fared on the same bike at Ducati.
Ex-MotoGP agent Carlo Pernat agrees with this idea, telling GPOne that he expects him to be a close challenger of the championship leader, which is more than can be said for Marquez’s own teammate.
“In the last few races, he’s always there, he stays close, he tries,” said Pernat. “He knows that Marc is stronger, that he is a phenomenon, but he still tries, and we can rest assured that sooner or later, he will have a good battle with him.
“In my opinion, this will be the leitmotif of the second part of the world championship, the arrival at the top of Aprilia and Bezzecchi, but also of Martin.”
READ MORE: Marc Marquez gives answer as to whether he can win the 2025 MotoGP title at Valentino Rossi’s ‘home’
Who is Aprilia’s sudden ascension good news for?
While Bezzecchi has worked hard to put himself in a position to lead Aprilia at the front, having done so by himself for most of the season, there’s one other beneficiary of the situation.
The returning Jorge Martin finished seventh at the Czech Grand Prix and delivered a solid stint on his return from a pneumothorax and 11 broken ribs.
It was the first time since last November, some 245 days ago, that he finished a race, but he may have returned to his team at exactly the right time.
The early stages of the season saw them at the lower end of the top 10, but now they’re contending in the top five regularly, Martin has a bike which he can challenge Marquez with too.
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