Andrea Dovizioso saw Marco Bezzecchi ‘in crisis’ for the first time this season in Barcelona

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Marco Bezzecchi recorded his worst Grand Prix result of 2026 at last weekend’s Catalan Grand Prix, with Andrea Dovizioso revealing that he saw the championship leader ‘in crisis’ during the race.

Luck is known to play a big part in winning a world championship, and Marco Bezzecchi arguably received a big stroke of it during a Catalan Grand Prix that was tough from start to finish for the Aprilia rider.

The championship leader was largely off the pace for the majority of the race weekend. After finishing Q2 with the slowest time, he trundled home in P9 during the Sprint and ended up benefiting massively from incidents ahead of him to claim P4 in the Grand Prix.

Is Marco Bezzecchi enduring a blip in form or is Jorge Martin now asserting his dominance at Aprilia?

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Bezzecchi’s fastest lap from Sunday’s race paints a more vivid picture of his true pace in Barcelona. His personal benchmark of 1:40.097 was over a tenth slower than Ai Ogura’s on identical machinery, and nearly four tenths behind Fabio Di Giannantonio’s gold standard.

• READ MORE: Valentino Rossi admits Marc Marquez has had ‘bad luck’ vs Marco Bezzecchi in 2026

Andrea Dovizioso saw Marco Bezzecchi ‘in crisis’ at Catalan GP

During a recent episode of Andrea Dovizioso’s MotoGP podcast, the 15-time Grand Prix winner assessed Aprilia’s disappointing race weekend and specifically touched upon Bezzecchi’s form at the Montmelo-based circuit.

The Italian began by theorising on whether Noale’s improvements of the RS-GP26 have actually given in to some limitations of the prototype at circuit tracks on the calendar.

“We were all expecting an extremely competitive Aprilia in Barcelona, and that wasn’t exactly the case,” he started. “This could mean that the bike’s evolution has created a situation where, on certain tracks that used to make a difference in the past, it no longer does.

“Perhaps it’s more versatile on other tracks. Because so far this season, that’s what the championship has shown us, but we’ll see in the next few races, as I’ve spotted a few riders at risk.”

While Bezzecchi still managed to claim a strong points haul with his P4 finish in the final classification, he benefited massively from a swathe of penalties and incidents that unfolded ahead of him on track. Up until the very last corner of the race, he was running in P7.

• READ MORE: Aprilia would ‘tarnish the brand’ for decades if they favour Marco Bezzecchi over Jorge Martin

In terms of the Italian’s true performance in Catalunya, Dovizioso strongly believes that Bezzecchi is now in crisis mode. “Aprilia were struggling this weekend in general,” he continued.

“Yes, Bezzecchi secured a crucial result for the championship, but the result of the third race isn’t really the full picture. In races one and two, he was well off the pace, and those two were a better reflection of his form than the third.

“Nevertheless, well done to him because in the end he took home the points for the championship. But I saw him in crisis for the first time this year. He was fired up, ready, and he gave it a go, but he was in crisis.”