VR46’s latest protégé gets a GP21
Marco Bezzecchi is the latest of Valentino Rossi’s students to make it into the premier class, taking the current tally to four, and he moves straight into his mentor’s own team. Bezzecchi has been a frontrunner in Moto2 for the last two seasons, but came up a little short in the overall title race in both campaigns (finishing fourth and third respectively).
To be fair, finishing third in Moto2 last season was the best anybody could realistically achieve given the dominance of Gardner and Fernandez. Three podiums in ’21 and a total of 14 podiums in Moto2 show why Bezzecchi has been given the nod in MotoGP.
He seems to be adapting rather well, too. Bezzecchi was the fastest rookie at both official tests, finishing only 0.579s off top spot at Sepang, and then 0.841s off at Mandalika. Bezzecchi is adapting fast to the outright speed and stopping power of the brakes on a GP bike.
There’s real belief that he will be able to challenge, and perhaps even beat, Gardner and Fernandez in the fight to become Rookie of the Year. Whilst they had the better package in Moto2, Bezzecchi has the all-powerful Ducati beneath him. Sure, it’s not the brand-new bike, but the GP21 is competitive. It took Bagnaia, Miller and Martin to a total of seven victories last season. Having an older Ducati isn’t a problem in MotoGP. Enea Bastianini secured two podiums on the Avintia GP19 last year.
Whilst Gardner and Fernandez’s rivalry will intensify, Bezzecchi will be working with friend and fellow VR46 student Luca Marini. They’ll be working hard to help bring each other closer to the front of the pack, whilst both will enjoy support from Morbidelli, Bagnaia – and of course Valentino!
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MARCO BEZZECCHI
MOONEY VR46 RACING TEAM
‘HE WAS THE FASTEST ROOKIE AT BOTH OFFICIAL
TESTS’