Marco Bezzecchi
Valentino Rossi has cast doubt on Marco Bezzecchi’s MotoGP title chances despite the Aprilia rider’s scintillating form. Bezzecchi has won three Grands Prix in a row.
Only two other riders on the current grid have put together that kind of winning streak – Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia. Bezzecchi won two of those races while Marquez was out injured at the end of 2025, but the Ducati rider had no answer to his speed in Thailand.
Neil Hodgson called Bezzecchi’s weekend ‘terrible’ because he crashed out of the Sprint race, blowing a likely victory, but he did at least convert pole position in the Grand Prix. In the winter, he was widely seen as the biggest threat to Marquez, and he immediately justified that mantle.
Valentino Rossi pessimistic about Marco Bezzecchi title chances
Of all Rossi’s academy graduates, Bezzecchi is said to be ‘the one that trains the hardest’. The Italian has almost doubled his premier-class win tally in the space of three weekends.
Bagnaia said Ducati are no longer fastest after their disappointing performance in Thailand, where all four Aprilia bikes finished in the top five. But many have put this down to Michelin’s rear-tyre casing, which is only used at extremely hot circuits.
Marquez still isn’t fully fit after his aforementioned injury either, and when his recovery is complete, he is still expected to re-establish Ducati at the top of the MotoGP hierarchy.
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If the GP26 remains the best bike, then Rossi doesn’t see how Bezzecchi can win the title despite his synergy with the Aprilia.
“At the moment, the most in-form guy is Bezzecchi,” he said at a dinner with MotoGP’s Hall of Fame riders, filmed last year and released this week. “He is the one that trains the hardest. He’s very focused, he wants to win.
“In my opinion, he did a great job. But the Aprilia is a bit worse than the Ducati. So beating Marquez with a worse bike? Impossible.
“Do you know something about him? He is very sensitive giving feedback to the engineers, because he’s got a very aggressive riding style, but he understands what the bike does. That’s been important with the Aprilia.”
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It’s worth noting that Bezzecchi isn’t leading the championship after Buriram, with Pedro Acosta seven points clear. Acosta won the Sprint – his first MotoGP victory of any description – and then finished second in the main race.
Alberto Puig says Acosta is a ‘special’ talent in the same bracket as Marquez and Rossi, but there are still some doubts about KTM. Unlike Aprilia, they have only been able to challenge for wins in flashes.
One advantage for Acosta, should his title credentials prove genuine, is that he appears to have the rest of the KTM riders covered.
Marco Melandri has called for Aprilia to make Bezzecchi their number one over the departing Jorge Martin, but the 2024 world champion may be too fast to make that arrangement viable. Martin is expected to join Yamaha next year, with Bagnaia replacing him.
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