Aprilia says Marco Bezzecchi has been feeling “s**t” after striking a marshal following his crash in Saturday’s sprint race at the Czech Grand Prix.
The MotoGP championship leader dominated the news at Brno after footage emerged showing him striking a marshal who was trying to recover his stranded bike.
The incident was investigated by the stewards, who excluded him from the remainder of the weekend due to what they described as unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Bezzecchi issued an unreserved apology on social media on Sunday morning and personally visited the marshal before the warm-up to apologise for his actions.
The Italian did not directly speak publicly following the penalty, but Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola addressed the media on his behalf after the race.
Asked how Bezzecchi was feeling almost 24 hours after the incident, Rivola said: “He feels shit. He feels shit as every one of us would feel.
“He’s quite an emotional person, as you can imagine.
“The good thing is that tomorrow he’s on the [850cc] bike [in the Pirelli test] and we test with good stuff. It’s a new challenge.
“He is racing in Assen [next weekend], so it’s easy to change the pace.”
While Bezzecchi initially shrugged off his crash out of fifth place on the penultimate lap of the race, he appeared to be aggrieved when a marshal accidentally revved up the engine while trying to lift the bike from the gravel.
Asked if the 27-year-old was reacting out of concern for damage to his bike, Rivola said: “Yes, honestly, that’s true.
“When we reviewed the footage, he was relatively calm at first – he was walking – and then he started running when he realised the engine was still engaged with the limiter.
“The rear wheel was spinning at around 165km/h and throwing stones everywhere. Imagine if the bike had suddenly engaged and taken off – who knows where we would have had to collect it.
“That said, his reaction was not acceptable, full stop.
“But his response came from thinking: ‘What’s happening with my bike?’ and recognising there was a dangerous situation.
“But I repeat: the gesture itself is not acceptable.”
Bezzecchi’s absence from Sunday’s race allowed team-mate Jorge Martin to slash his lead down to just five points, while also bringing Marc Marquez back into title contention following the Ducati rider’s second consecutive grand prix win of 2026.
But Rivola expressed confidence that the setback would not affect Bezzecchi’s title campaign.
“I think moments like this are when it’s important to behave as a united team, like we did recently with Jorge [in Balaton Park] and with everything else that has happened,” he said.
“But I believe Marco is strong enough, and with us even more so, to get back up immediately and react in the best possible way.
“We’re also at a great circuit, we have a test tomorrow and, fortunately, he gets back on the bike straight away, so I think he’ll react well.”
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