BEZZECCHI LOOKS TO CLOSE 42-POINT GAP IN JAPAN

Marco Bezzecchi heads to the Japanese Grand Prix hoping to revive his MotoGP title bid after a sharp downturn in results. The Aprilia rider won four of the season’s first eight grands prix, but has failed to score in five of the last eight races. He is now 42 points behind the championship leaders, his largest deficit of the campaign.

Bezzecchi acknowledged that Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez currently have the stronger position in the title contest. “At the moment I’m in the fight but not like Martin and Marc,” he said, adding that the pair are “a lot more inside the fight” than he is. He hopes to recover ground and get back among them, but conceded: “At the moment, they for sure are a little bit more in the fight.”

Motegi presents a particular challenge for Aprilia: the manufacturer has yet to take a podium there. Ducati has generally been strong at the circuit in recent years, but Bezzecchi said he is not dwelling on comparisons between manufacturers. “I’m not really looking at an Aprilia, a Ducati, a KTM or anything – I’m looking at myself,” he said. His priority is to find a competitive setup early, beginning in Friday practice, then make progress through the weekend. “We will see only tomorrow,” he added.

Asked what he values about the Aprilia, Bezzecchi pointed to its front-end feel under braking. He said the front tyre and braking point give him confidence, describing that as something he notices immediately when he gets on the bike. He could not say whether the Aprilia is stronger in that area than its rivals, explaining that he has not ridden their machines.

A strong start at Motegi would give Bezzecchi an opportunity to narrow the gap to Martin and Marquez. For now, however, he is focused on extracting the best from his own package rather than predicting how the different bikes will compare.