Had it not been for the incident or penalty, Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi might have won the last four MotoGP races in a row.
Instead, he had to be content with two sprint wins at Mandalika and Phillip Island and a third place at last Sunday’s Australian Grand Prix.
This weekend’s Malaysian round will start without the Italian’s two long lap penalties, but he was keen to beat the favorites at Sepang on Thursday.
“Well, it’s hard to say. Of course we’ve been very competitive in the last few GPs, but every track is a little different,” said Bezzecchi.
“Actually, I’m very happy to be here. It’s the only track where I’ve had a little bit of reference from the (February) test and I have to say I was struggling a bit.
“So I’m very interested to see what the first reaction of the bike will be and what the first feeling will be on this great track.
“I hope we have another good weekend.”
Bezzecchi was only ninth at the end of winter testing, overshadowed by an injury to superstar teammate Jorge Martin.
Despite this, Bezzecchi took four wins at the British Grand Prix as well as Misano, Mandalika and Phillip Island, setting a new Aprilia record with seven Sunday podium finishes.
This moves the Italian into third place in the World Championship, eight points ahead of Ducati Francesco Bagnaia.
What are the main improvements?
“Every bike has its strengths and weaknesses when it comes to riding, so we had to change a lot of things,” Bezzecchi explained. “So I had to make a lot of effort to adapt my style to Aprilia and change my riding reflexes a bit.
“But all the engineers and all the staff working at Aprilia have also done a great job. We’ve been working very hard from the beginning, and they’ve also made so many improvements to the bike.”
“So it’s hard to say just one thing. Probably from my personal point of view, what helped the most was the stability of the braking.”
Its braking stability meant that the RS-GP not only excelled in high-speed corners, but could also hold up on stop-and-go tracks, as demonstrated by Bezzecchi and trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez’s win at Phillip Island.
“Of course I’m happy,” Bezzecchi said of his late-season progress. “The whole team is happy, the whole factory is happy, but there are still three rounds left.
“Obviously we have to enjoy the moment, but we have to stay focused to keep improving and keep working in the right direction so that we have a good foundation for next year.”
Aprilia has not only welcomed two new factory riders this season, but has also welcomed a new technical director, Fabio Sterracchini, after Romano Albesiano moved to Honda.
“Personally, first of all, he’s a very intelligent person in general, not just about bikes, but he can talk about everything,” Vezzecchi said of Stelracchini.
“This is really cool because I really enjoy talking to him outside of racing.
“When it comes to racing, his know-how is certainly very big and he has a lot of experience. But he has a great personality, so he doesn’t put himself in difficult situations.”
Bezzecchi revealed that he sometimes felt intimidated when interacting with MotoGP engineers.
“When you talk to some engineers, you feel like you’re a little bit inferior to them in terms of knowledge. With Fabiano it’s completely different,” Bezzecchi said.
“He has a lot of experience, is very calm, very professional. And I feel a very good relationship with him.”
Test rider Lorenzo Savadori will continue to replace the injured Martin this weekend.