The ‘black knight’
It is written Marco Bezzecchi but read as ‘anti-Ducati’. After the third place achieved last year in the championship behind the Marquez brothers and after being the main protagonist of the tests, particularly in the two days at Buriram, all the insiders consider the Rimini rider of Aprilia as the only rider not on a Ducati who can realistically aim to win the 2026 World Championship. The person concerned, however, in the first press conference of the season wanted to “keep a low profile” to use his words, not even including himself in the prediction for the championship top-5.
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Low profile
“Will it be a four-way challenge between Marc, Alex, Bagnaia and me? Hard to say – commented Bezzecchi – it’s true that we had good tests. Sepang was important because there were many things to try, while here we focused more on preparing for the race weekend. But tests are always different from races. We hope to be able to fight with the top riders right away, but we can’t know. I hope to have a valid package to fight for the title, but my goal at the moment is simply to start better than in 2025. In the first part of the season last year we didn’t get the results we would have liked. Then maybe after a few races we can change our goal“.
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“In the first race the favorite is always the defending champion, so Marc – the Aprilia standard-bearer added – I was competitive in the tests but I want to keep my feet on the ground. The bike has improved in all areas: mainly we worked on stability, which was last year’s problem, but we are trying to grow further. Aprilia for me is a very special team. I can’t make a comparison with other teams, but they are special. They take care of me and they love me. I feel warmth in the garage”, concluded #72.
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