BEZZECCHI IGNORED APRILIA WARNING AND CRASHED OUT ON LAP ONE AT SAN MARINO GP

Marco Bezzecchi’s bid to keep his MotoGP title fight alive suffered a major setback at the San Marino Grand Prix, where he crashed out on the opening lap. Starting from pole, the Aprilia rider initially held off Marc Marquez at the start, but the advantage lasted less than a full lap. Bezzecchi went down at turn 13, ending his race early and leaving him still third in the standings—now 33 points behind the championship leaders, Marquez and Jorge Martin, who are tied at the top with seven rounds remaining.

The crash also reignited discussion about Bezzecchi’s approach to the opening stages. According to reporter Mat Oxley, Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora had warned him on the grid to avoid trying to force the issue immediately. Oxley said Bonora told Bezzecchi to “chill out,” stressing that there were 27 laps and that the race could not be decided on lap one. Oxley criticised Bezzecchi for what he described as a “rookie mistake,” pointing to the way Bezzecchi attempted to build a decisive gap early.

On the Oxley Bom podcast, Oxley explained the thinking behind the warning and why he believed it was ignored: “He’s in the lead, so he’s like, ‘Okay, what I want to do now is try and make the break.’” He added: “And man, Paolo Bonora was saying to him before the race, ‘Chill out, there are 27 laps, you don’t win the race on the first lap.’” Oxley then argued that Bezzecchi’s attempt to push for a break at the start was unrealistic, saying: “Marco tried to win it on the first lap […] You can’t go through turn 13 with a full fuel tank on the first lap at full speed. You have to realise. To me, that was a rookie mistake.”

The San Marino DNF was not an isolated problem for Bezzecchi this season. The sources note that he has recorded seven DNFs so far—more than any other rider in the top 15, and equal to the total of his two title rivals combined. He also received a race ban for the Czech Grand Prix after hitting a marshal during the Sprint.

Bezzecchi had led the championship by 17 points after winning at Mugello and was 102 points clear of Marquez at that stage. Since then, he has scored 68 points across seven weekends, with injury forcing him to miss both races at the Sachsenring. In the same period, Marquez has accumulated 203 points, while Bezzecchi’s teammate Martin has 118. Despite Bezzecchi’s apparent pace—beating Martin in 10 of 14 qualifying sessions and in 11 of 16 races where both were classified—his results have left him trailing in the title race, turning 2026 into a season of mounting regrets.