Who is Marco Bezzecchi, the surprise leader of the MotoGP World Championship after two races? He says he is a 24-year-old boy from the Italian city of Viserba, on the Adriatic coast, on the outskirts of Rimini. This is his second year in the premier two wheel speed race and he is a driver for the Mooney VR46 Racing Team, having completed the VR46 Riders Academy. He enjoys being at home with his family, his girlfriend, friends and his dog, a Pitbull named Rubik, as he is a known “addict on Rubik’s Cubes”.
He races number 72, but if he could he would change to number 12, used by Maverick Viñales, because he was born on November 12, 1998 and it was also on the 12th that he made his Moto3 debut. This number has so much meaning that he got it tattooed on his right hand. Bezz is an admirer of Japan and Japanese culture, but he wouldn’t trade a good Italian ragu (a sauce based on cooked meat) accompanied by a gin and tonic for anything. He loves Bob Marley’s music and if he had to choose a sport that has nothing to do with motorcycling, it would be skateboarding or snowboarding and he even challenged champion Shaun White to a duel in the snow.
After finishing 3rd in Portimão at the opening of the 2023 World Championship, Marco Bezzecchi headed to Argentina to win the first race of his career in MotoGP. “It was a dream for me, for the team, for my family, for the Academy and of course for Vale. [Valentino Rossi]. If I’m here today, it’s because of him,” the young Italian rider told DN, at the end of an incredible journey that took him to the top of the championship.
At Termas de Río Hondo last weekend, the rain still threatened a “perfect” day at the circuit where he also won his first Moto3 victory. He was “worried”, but after the warm-up he realized he could have a great race. And he did. For the second consecutive time he climbed to the podium, this time to the highest place. As if that wasn’t enough, he was presented with an Argentina national team shirt signed by Lionel Messi: “I don’t follow football, but he is an idol in the world of sports. It’s an incredible emotion. That day will never be forgotten .”
Bezzecchi’s motto, on the track and in life, is “Going smooth is going fast, going fast is going smooth.” In fact, that is “the key” to balancing racing and personal life in a super-competitive championship and in a calendar with almost no room to go outside the paddock. “MotoGP these days requires us to be 100% focused, so we spend most of our time training or traveling the world for the races. It is very important to spend time with family and friends to relax and reconnect Without good people around me it is not possible to perform well on the track,” he stressed.
It is true that there are still 19 races out of 21 in the longest MotoGP World Championship in history, but if the Italian becomes world champion one day, he will be doing the traditional lap of honor around the circuit… in his underpants!
Marco Bezzecchi became the third rider from the very champion Valentino Rossi’s academy – who rode under the number 46, hence the VR46 Riders Academy, leaving the track in 2021 – to win a race in MotoGP, after Francesco Bagnaia (title world champion) and Franco Morbidelli. Luca Marini (Rossi’s half-brother) is the other rider from the team training who has an agreement with Ducati and who is becoming increasingly important in the paddock.
The Ducati Desmosedici GP22 used by the Italian is from 2022, which requires more demanding handling. The 2023 bikes are more technologically and mechanically evolved and make it easier to get out of corners, for example. What the performance of Bezzecchi, who will now be the focus of all eyes when he arrives this Sunday in Austin (USA), in a race that will already see Miguel Oliveira, after recovering from the injuries sustained in the fall in Portimão.
Source: DN
