Marco Bezzecchi
Marco Bezzecchi is currently setting MotoGP alight as he took control of the 2026 championship standings with victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix, but Dani Pedrosa doesn’t think Marc Marquez will be beaten that easily.
While Marc Marquez secured his first win of the year during the Brazilian GP Sprint, Marco Bezzecchi made it two wins from two in the Grand Prix format as Aprilia secured their first factory one-two in MotoGP since 2023.
It was another difficult race for Marquez, who battled Fabio Di Giannantonio for the final spot on the podium for the majority of the Grand Prix. The VR46 rider prevailed in the end, achieving the rare feat of besting the Spaniard on identical machinery.
Aprilia take the headlines, but who was your biggest surprise at the Brazilian Grand Prix?
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However, it also indicated that Marquez simply still isn’t back to his finest form following his injury-plagued winter break. The race was shortened by a quarter just minutes from the start, but even that didn’t help the factory Ducati man to capitalise.
- READ MORE: Neil Hodgson has never seen Marc Marquez so ‘annoyed’ after Brazilian GP, ‘he rarely shows that’
Dani Pedrosa predicts there to be a ‘psychological war’ between Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi
During his duties as a pundit for DAZN on MotoGP race weekends, Dani Pedrosa gave his thoughts on the dynamic between Marquez and Bezzecchi with two rounds of the 2026 premier class campaign now in the books.
Both riders are currently candidates for the crown this year, but it is Bezzecchi who has taken the first blood by securing back-to-back wins to start off the current campaign. Still, he expects the Italian to face stern competition from the reigning world champion.
He said via Motosan, “It’s a psychological war that hasn’t yet been fully revealed, but it’s going to start there [in Austin]. Because, as he says, you have the ‘reverse card’ of Márquez, you know?
“Depending on who plays that card well, the psychological impact will fall on one or the other. If you look at the championships Marc has won, I doubt he hasn’t won a race between the first and second.
Marco Bezzecchi on top after two rounds 👀 Will he still be at the top by the end of the season, though? 🤔
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“It would possibly be the first time Marc has started the championship without winning either the first or second race, with the possibility of going on to win the World Championship.
“What I mean by this is that we’re seeing a Marc who understands he’s not at his best, whether it’s physically, the bike, or both.
“And he’s playing the ‘well, it’s not my best moment, I’m going to get as many points as I can until we turn this situation around and I’m ready to win’ card, right? Even so, at that moment, Bezzecchi is taking full advantage.”
Dani Pedrosa says Aprilia are ‘without a doubt’ the benchmark in MotoGP at the moment
Pedrosa knows Marquez extremely well through the six years they spent as teammates together at the factory Honda team. Still, the Spaniard believes that Aprilia’s advantage in bike performance may be too much for Marquez to be able to conquer.
Asked about Ducati’s unusual start to the season, the 31-time MotoGP Grand Prix winner said, “Ducati isn’t as strong in these first two races as it was at the start of the World Championship in previous seasons, and, without a doubt, Aprilia has taken over.
“Now we’re entering a phase of the championship where the circuits have more reference points, and there’s more data from previous years. And perhaps Ducati can make up some ground there, but they’re certainly not at their best.”
He also pinpointed exactly where Aprilia are managing to get the better of their local rivals’ machinery, adding, “It’s hard to say, but with all the technical aspects of a modern MotoGP bike, I think they’ve found the right balance.
“That would be the word, balance, between good aerodynamics, good traction, and good cornering, obviously, without sacrificing top speed.”
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