MotoGP Assen: Bezzecchi’s podium prophecy - ‘I didn’t expect it so early’

Marco Bezzecchi celebrated his maiden premier class podium at Assen on Sunday, a first also for the Mooney VR46 MotoGP team.

While the result was a little unexpected for the Ducati rookie, Bezzecchi looked strong across the weekend as a whole and didn’t look back once the opportunity presented itself on race day. A last minute tyre gamble providing the final piece of the puzzle, alongside some nerves of steel when the rain began to threaten.

“It was an incredible race,” Bezzecchi exclaimed after the celebrations had dies down. “Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect with the soft because we worked well, but with the medium.

“I bring the medium to race distance and I didn’t expect that the medium was not good. So seeing that in the qualifying I was very fast. I said, I think is not possible that I’m so slow with the medium, maybe I’m using the wrong tyre. But with the soft I make maximum six laps! So I put the soft and Matteo gave me a lot of confidence in this choice because I wasn’t really sure. Still in the grid I didn’t know what to do and he said ‘We put the soft, don’t worry, you are good’.

“When I saw Pecco in front I tried to go with him because, I didn’t want to catch him, well if I could I try, but the target was to escape from the others because Maverick was very fast. Is a fantastic feeling!”

Despite a consistent front runner across the junior classes, Bezzecchi has never stood on the podium at the TT Circuit, so what clicked this weekend on the GP21? The rookie form has been building in recent races, with a front row start at his home Grand Prix in Mugello the icing on the cake until Sunday, but there’s an element of premonition with the Italian too.

“I don’t know!” Bezzecchi admitted when asked what finally