‘For the moment no’ - Marco Bezzecchi not happy with how Sepang MotoGP test ended
Marco Bezzecchi was the last Ducati rider on the timinsheets, except for test rider Michele Pirro as he admits work needs to be done.
With just one MotoGP pre-season test to go before the season-opener in Qatar, Marco Bezzecchi believes big improvements are needed.
Bezzecchi has so far not had the same feeling with the 2023 bike, particularly the engine, compared to the 2022 machine he won three grand prix’, and a sprint at Assen with.
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Asked if he’s satisfied, Bezzecchi said: “No. for the moment no. Yesterday I felt a little bit better. Today we struggled more and lost the way trying many things.
“We decided to come back and restart but still I’m not feeling very good on the bike.
“The bike has a different engine and different way to stop. I struggle a lot stopping compared to my old bike and I don’t trust the front the same way.
“I struggle to put power to the ground as well. The engine works differently so overall I’m struggling on entry and exit.
“We will find a way to improve. It is only the first test.”
Bezzecchi finished day three of the Sepang test in 17th spot - 1.3 second down on reigning two-time world champion Francesco Bagnaia.
Bezzecchi said the issues adapting to the 2023 bike began in Valencia, although he was able to mask over the problems with a good timme attack performance later in the day.
“Yes, already in Valencia I noticed this problem,” added Bezzecchi. “For one lap I was quite competitive because with new tyres you have more grip and more confidence, but I saw that I was struggling a bit.
“Here, I struggled a lot more. The track had a lot of grip and the track condition was unbelivable.
“Having so much grip, you try more and more and more to go faster, but it’s normal to get to a point where you want even more but you can’t.”
