Marco Bezzecchi fastest at MotoGP preseason test in Sepang and says: “I don’t care if it’s a 2026 bike! Harder due to riders, not bikes”
The VR46 Mooney Racing rider was fastest on the first day of the preseason test in Sepang, as MotoGP bik💃es hit the track for the first time in 2023.
This season Bezzecchi will profit from the same specification of bike that Francesco Bagnaia used♐ to win the championship last year, but he insists that machinery is not the decisive factor.
“I 🐲hope to start well,” he said. “I don’ꩲt care if the rider in front has the ‘22, the ‘24 or the ‘26!
“I will try to ജgo as fast as I can. It will be harder, not because of the bikes, but because every rider is very fast.”
Bezzecchi said aᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚbout being the fastest rider on Friday: “It is nice for your personal sensation, but it is a test so it doesn’t mean so much! It is nice to see your name on top.
“It is just the first day so we need to stay calm,🎀 stay focused. It is a long season.
“It is always nice to jump on the bike and feel th🦹e incredible speed. You never get used to this sensation, especially o🍸n the first day of the year.
“At the begi🀅nning I had a small crash, I made a small mistake, something I could have avoided but nothing crazy.
“We worked with the medium tyre, not the race tyre🥀. We struggled. When I put🌞 the soft tyre on, it was much better.”
Bezzecchꦐi spoke about his 2023 bike: “The difference is not so big. In some points you can really use the potential of the bike very well. Some things work a little bit better.
“It 🍒is strange to say these things af🍰ter just 50 laps!
“My plan is to get used to the strong p꧅oints of the bike which, still, I am not reꦕally able to use.
“I will try things, because w👍e are here to test, so it would be🎃 strange to test nothing!
“It was a good start but the target is to try ✅to understand the different bikes.”
James was a s🤪port💦s journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
