During the recent Jerez Moto3 tests, only one KTM was in the top nine, surrounded by eight Hondas. It occupied fifth position and was driven by Italian Marco Bezzecchi for the PrüstelGP team. During previous tests, still in Andalusia, he was ranked 0.6 behind leader Tony Arbolino.
Born on November 12, 1998 in Rimini, near the Misano circuit, Bezzecchi won the Moto3 National Championship in CIV in 2015, the year he competed in his first two GPs as a wild card at Losail and Mugello. In 2016, he took part in two GPs in Austria and Great Britain where he wore the colors of Mahindra Racing.
Alain Bronec hired him for his CIP Unicom Starker team in 2017 and the Italian caused a sensation by reaching the third step of the podium in Japan behind Roman Fenati and Niccolo Antonelli. This will be Mahindra's swan song and the Indian manufacturer's only podium of the year.
By joining the PrüstelGP team (ex-MC Saxoprint) this year, including the French Technical Director is the eminent Florian Chiffoleau, We thought Bezzecchi could make a splash with his new KTM. But offseason testing would seem to indicate that Honda's dominance continues. The Japanese manufacturer won 17 GPs last year and the Austrian won 1 alone at Mugello with Andrea Migno.
Marco, who will compete in his twenty-second Grand Prix next week in Qatar, was not amazed by his tests in Jerez, but everyone was very disappointed by the weather which prevented him from working well.
“It wasn't the best of tests, because the time was against us, Marco said.. Nevertheless, we have made progress and are ready. In Qatar we still have to work on my riding style, because I have to adapt it even better to the KTM.
“I have to use a stop-and-go style to better use the power of the KTM. It's difficult, but I'm still learning. We also need to improve the bike a bit when it comes to engine braking. But we are on a good path.
“In Qatar, I definitely want to finish in the points. Of course, if I can, I will make the most of it to do better… My goal is to be in the first group and have fun fighting against the other drivers.
“It will be difficult on long straights like in Qatar, but I want to make the most of it… I have more experience than last year and I am pushed by KTM and my team. The Honda riders are fast, but we want to challenge them.
“I’m going to calm things down more than last year “, explains Bezzecchi. “It helps me a lot. I focus more on the pace of the race than a fast lap, my approach has changed. »
Will KTM react with sufficient efficiency and speed to the domination of the Hondas that we saw in Jerez? This would be desirable, otherwise it would be a shame for the show. And it would also be for promising young riders like Marco Bezzecchi, who after carrying his Mahindra cross for a year, does not need an inferior bike for another year. We will know a little more next week in Losail.
Confused classification of the 3 days of testing in Jerez:
1. Jorge Martin (Honda) 1:45.945 min
2. Enea Bastianini (Honda), +0.101
3. Aron Canet (Honda) +0.262
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Honda) +0.604
5. Marco Bezzecchi (KTM) +0.611
6 Alonso Lopez (Honda) +0,615
7 Niccolò Antonelli (Honda) +0,758
8 Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) +0,818
9 Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda) +0,828
10 Livio Law (KTM) +0,902
11 Andrea Migno (Honda) KTM) +0.984
12. Ayumu Sasaki (Honda) +1.028
13. Makar Yurchenko (KTM) +1.040
14. Philipp Ottl (KTM) +1.081
15. Gabriel Rodrigo (KTM) +1.199
16. Marcos Ramirez (KTM) +1.282
17 Jaume Masia (KTM) +1,352
18th Nicolò Bulega (KTM) +1,441
19. John McPhee (KTM) +1.449
20. Dennis Foggia (KTM) +1.479
21. Albert Arenas (KTM) +1.601
22. Jakub Kornfeil (KTM) +1.607
23. Kaito Toba (Honda) +1.678
24. Adam Norrodin (KTM) Honda), +1,694
25. Tony Arbolino (Honda) 1,907
26. Darryn Binder (KTM) +1,986
27. Kazuki Masaki (KTM) +2,043
28. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (Honda) +2,470
Photos © PrüstelGP
Source: speedweek
