Marco Bezzecchi answers ‘without a doubt’ if he’s now at the same level as Marc Marquez

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Marco Bezzecchi is having a brilliant season with Aprilia in 2025, grabbing his second win of the year at Portimao on Sunday.

Joining from VR46 over the winter, the Italian has taken on a lead role at the Noale outfit with defending champion Jorge Martin’s desperate injury struggles. The factory Aprilia team have effectively run with just one rider in 2025, with Lorenzo Savadori providing useful mileage, but no results.

Bezzecchi says Martin’s absence has affected Aprilia and the ‘whole environment’ within the team. But even without the 2024 champion, the manufacturer has made significant progress in 2025, thanks to his teammate.

The 26-year-old has grabbed eight podiums this season, collecting his first win for Aprilia at Silverstone. Since the summer break, Bezzecchi and the Noale outfit have taken huge steps forward with development, with many believing the RS-GP25 is the best bike at certain circuits.

That proved to be the case at the Portuguese Grand Prix, as Bezzecchi claimed his fourth pole position of the season. While he lost out to Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta in the Sprint, Bezzecchi dominated Sunday’s race, claiming Aprilia’s third win of 2025.

Marco Bezzecchi says he is ‘without a doubt’ not at Marc Marquez and Alex Marquez’s level

With victory in Portimao, Bezzecchi is now looking good for third in the standings after leapfrogging Francesco Bagnaia. The Ducati rider suffered his fourth consecutive DNF in Portugal, allowing his fellow compatriot to move 35 points clear ahead of the final race at Valencia.

It marks an excellent finish for Aprilia and Bezzecchi, but it is too late for him to catch the Marquez brothers, with Marc Marquez wrapping up the title at Motegi and Alex securing the runner-up spot at Sepang.

Speaking via AS after the Portuguese GP, Bezzecchi expressed his confidence in his engineers at Aprilia after their incredible improvements over 2025. However, he admitted that he is ‘without a doubt’ not on the same level as the Marquez brothers.

“It’s a tough question, but we work every day to improve, and of course, I always believe in the project and have had confidence in the engineers and the entire Noale factory,” said Bezzecchi. 

“It’s true that we struggled at the beginning, but luckily we’ve been improving, and without a doubt, we’re not yet at the level of Marc or Alex, but we can certainly compete with Pedro, who has also been incredibly strong in this second half of the year. 

“We have to keep working and improving our level for next season.”

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

How is Marco Bezzecchi’s relationship with Marc Marquez?

Since the summer break, Bezzecchi has arguably been Marc Marquez’s closest rival, or closest challenger to Ducati. He has regularly fought for podiums and looked to get the better of the Spaniard, but has ultimately proven no match for his dominance.

Bezzecchi and Marquez were once enemies, with the pair displaying pure hatred towards one another. With the former being a part of Valentino Rossi’s VR46 academy, there was a feeling that no one in MotoGP held a bigger ‘grudge’ than Bezzecchi towards Marquez.

But in 2025, the duo have gained more respect for one another. Bezzecchi apologised to Marquez after they crashed in Mandalika – the accident sidelined the Ducati rider for the rest of 2025 with a fractured collarbone.

While there is respect between the rivals, Bezzecchi says it would be ‘stupid’ to call Marquez his friend. He will be looking to challenge him for the title in 2026, now that Aprilia have a bike that can beat Ducati on merit.