Bezzecchi: Turn 1 contact ‘to avoid Pecco’, windscreen problem

Bezzecchi picked his bike up to avoid clipping the back of title leader Francesco Bagnaia as the field tiptoed on slick tyres in the rain.

The chain reaction forced Maverick Vinales to lift, causing the Aprilia rider to make contact with Johann Zarco.

Bezzecchi and Zarco remained on two wheels but Vinales toppled over in the gravel.

“I started well, but at the first corner, to avoid Pecco, I crashed with two other riders,” Bezzecchi explained. “Then at turn three, I felt another bump and found myself at the back of the group.”

The young Italian completed his first-ever MotoGP bike swap at the end of the opening lap and was soon rising up the order in the wet, reaching third by lap 7.

“Not bad for the first flag to flag of my career,” he said.

But Bezzecchi then suffered some visibility issues and couldn’t keep Marc Marquez at bay, the Honda rider snatching the podium place from him on lap 12 - the point at which the final classification was taken after red flags came out soon after.

“On the one hand I am happy with the final placing, considering that we have never ridden in the wet here, we were in the strongest group until the red flag,” Bezzecchi said.

“I was feeling good in the wet. But unfortunately, the others were a little bit faster, Pecco especially

“Then in the end I started to have problems with the visibility. It was difficult to see. I had a problem with the windscreen with my bike. So I lost some time and Marc passed me.

“After the red flag, I imagined we wouldn't start again: it was really too dangerous for everyone.”

Bezzecchi's fourth place, which followed a sixth in the dry Sprint, means he remains third in the world championship but is now 54 points from the top after losing more ground to Bagnaia and double Motegi winner Jorge Martin.

“Considering everything, we must be satisfied with having brought home two excellent placings between Sprint and GP,” said team manager Pablo Nieto.

“Obviously a bitter taste remains in the mouth for the podium just missed on the red flag. Let's not give up, let's continue to work hard towards the end of the season.”

Bezzecchi was riding alone for VR46 in Japan with team-mate Luca Marini sidelined by the collarbone fracture, after hitting the back of Bezzecchi at Turn 1 in India the previous weekend.

“Next appointment in Indonesia, where we hope to find Luca again. The surgery went well and we are waiting for him at the garage as soon as possible,” Nieto said.