Aprilia manager saw the look in Marco Bezzecchi’s ‘eyes’ after Marc Marquez won Czech Grand Prix

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Marco Bezzecchi was forced to watch from the garage as Marc Marquez slashed his championship lead at the Czech Grand Prix on Sunday.

Bezzecchi was banned from the race after striking a marshal following his crash in Saturday’s Sprint. The Italian heard his engine revving while his bike recovered, which led to the confrontation.

After Aprilia’s unsuccessful appeal, Bezzecchi forfeited his fourth-place starting position. Marquez’s ensuing victory, aided by the Italian’s absence, saw him close the gap to 40 points.

Paolo Bonora insists Marco Bezzecchi is fully focused after Czech Grand Prix ban

In an interview with TNT Sports after the race, Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora was asked about Marquez making further inroads. He has now gained 50 points in the last two Sundays, with the largest comeback in MotoGP history suddenly looking very possible.

Bonora insists that Aprilia never thought they had the championship wrapped up despite Bezzecchi and Martin previously sitting in a dominant one-two position.

Rather than looking understandably anxious, he says Bezzecchi was a picture of focus after the race.

“We never started to think that… we haven’t achieved any goal at the moment,” Bonora said. “The championship is so long. We know that our competitors are good, we know their potential.

Marc Marquez makes it back-to-back wins at the Czech Grand Prix! What was your main takeaway from the race?

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“We know also that we have already shown our potential and we know that we can give to everybody, to the sport, to the fans, some other good moments.

“To be honest with you, we totally trust in our riders. We have seen the eyes of Marco after the race. He’s really focused.”

• READ MORE: Czech Grand Prix marshal says ‘I did my job’ after being hit by Marco Bezzecchi

Serving a double long-lap penalty after the multi-bike crash in Hungary, Martin finished ninth on the other bike. That means the gap between the two Aprilias narrows to eight points.

Recent events, be it the marshal incident, Balaton Park pile-up or Martin pushing Bonora in Barcelona, suggest the pressure is getting to both Aprilia riders. Allowing Marquez to retain the title from here, given his fitness issues, would be a historic failure.