Marco Bezzecchi admitted he had to head back to the pitlane and wait for the conditions to improve after nearly crashing in the opening practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.
Heading out at the recently resurfaced Motegi track for the first time on Friday morning, Bezzecchi had a big scare as he almost highsided off his factory Aprilia exiting Turn 11.
The Italian was able to save a crash and carry on for the remainder of the day without further drama, eventually finishing 0.218s behind pacesetter Alex Marquez in fourth.
But in a year where Bezzecchi has crashed several times from leading positions and injured both his knee and shoulder, the 27-year-old was left to count his blessings as Honda wildcard Takaaki Nakagami suffered a nasty fall at the same corner just minutes later and was ruled out for the remainder of the weekend.
Recalling the incident, Bezzecchi said overnight rain, low temperatures and a lack of reference from last year combined to leave him completely blind heading into the tricky right-hander.
“I started the day immediately with my ass like ‘this’; with a massive save,” Bezzecchi said.
“The problem was that I saw some light rain on the track, but the tarmac was completely dry everywhere.
“Then, I reached Turn 11, the braking also was dry. And once I went in, I started to see that [the tarmac] was a little bit more dark. Because it was new, I didn’t know if it was a characteristic [of the new surface].
“I walked [the track] yesterday, but walking is always different from when you are with the bike. So, I realised it was wet when the bike was like ‘this’.
“I was super lucky. If I have to say how I saved it, honestly, I don’t know. It was just a matter of luck. I was ready, but sometimes you save it and sometimes you don’t – you are doing the same things on the bike.
“I went straight to the box, I said, ‘let’s wait a little bit’, because this season I already had enough [crashes]’.
“Unfortunately, I saw Taka. It’s a big shame for him. First of all, because it’s always ugly when you get an injury. So I wish him a speedy recovery.
“But also in Japan, as a Japanese rider, it was good to have him here for the fans in general. So hopefully he can come back here soon.”
On a track that has traditionally not suited the RS-GP, Bezzecchi fared relatively well in practice against Ducati and KTM, while team-mate Jorge Martin also earned a direct entry to Q2 with an eighth-place finish.
Bezzecchi said he feels in the “mix” at the front of the pack, as he provided a positive assessment at the end of practice.
“I’m very happy to arrive here today and the day was good,” he said. “It was decent. Decent FP1, decent practice, decent time attack. Overall, a decent day.
“I expected Marc [Marquez to be quick]. Through the years, he was always super competitive here. I expected Alex [Marquez] to be fast because he’s very strong in braking.
“I expected Pedro [Acosta] because he was competitive here in his rookie season. Then he won in Spielberg. And Jorge is fast as always.
“Fortunately, I’m in the mix, so I’ll try to improve and be closer to the top.”
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
– The Motorsport.com Team
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com
