Marco Bezzecchi dominates MotoGP Brazil for fourth straight victory

The Italian rider is now 11 points clear of Aprilia teammate Jorge Martin in the riders’ standings after two rounds.

Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi cruised to victory at the Brazilian MotoGP on Sunday for his fourth consecutive win, and now leads the championship standings.

The 27-year-old Italian, starting second on the grid, quickly grabbed the lead and never looked back for his second win ⁠of the year after his triumph at the season-opening Thailand Grand Prix earlier this month.

Recommended Stories

• list 1 of 3Vinicius strikes twice as Real Madrid edge Atletico 3-2 in pulsating derby
• list 2 of 3Pakistan T20 cricket league to be held in empty stadiums amid oil crisis
• list 3 of 3UFC Fight Night 270: Evloev edges Murphy, sets up featherweight title shot

Jorge Martin made it an Aprilia 1-2, and VR46’s Fabio Di Giannantonio held off defending MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez down the stretch to claim third.

Adjustments made

Bezzecchi said he and his team were forced to dig ‌deep after struggling during Friday’s rain-hit practice.

“It was a tough weekend. It was super tough on Friday. We started in a bad way, and it was difficult to keep the motivation super high,” Bezzecchi said.

“But the guys did a wonderful job, and I pushed myself over the limit to try to compensate everything I could, and at the end, we found the way to make the bike in ⁠a fantastic way.

“I adjusted some details on my riding, and ⁠from this morning, I felt better, so I said, ‘OK, maybe I can try to fight.’ It was an amazing race. I’m super happy.”

With the win, Bezzecchi overtook KTM’s Pedro Acosta and now leads the championship ⁠standings by 11 points.

Bezzecchi dedicated the victory to his friend Roberto Lunadei, a 42-year-old mechanic who died in a road traffic ⁠accident last week.

Bezzecchi in action during the race [Adriano Machado/Reuters]

Track concerns

The race distance was cut from ⁠31 laps to 23 amid track degradation concerns and scorching temperatures in Goiania, a change that was only announced just before the start of the race.

Saturday’s sprint race was delayed by more than an hour as ‌officials carried out urgent track repairs after a large hole was discovered near the starting line.

The competition at the Ayrton Senna Circuit marked MotoGP’s return to Brazil for the ‌first ‌time since 2004.

MotoGP action now shifts from South America to North America, with the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, on March 27-29.

Reigning MotoGP champion Marc Marquez (#93) finished fourth at the Brazilian MotoGP [Evaristo Sa/AFP]