Marc Marquez wasn't fastest in Friday practice at the MotoGP Aragon GP, and Marco Bezzecchi believes that's because he was hiding his true speed.
The reigning MotoGP champion arrived at Aragon as the favourite for victory, a status he only reinforced by topping the first timed session on Friday morning. In the afternoon, Marquez briefly led the timesheets after breaking his own lap record, but slipped to third in the closing stages as both Bezzecchi and Alex Marquez found extra time on their final runs.
Despite that, Bezzecchi remains convinced that the factory Ducati rider is still the benchmark at Aragon, a track where he has won a record eight times across all classes. The Aprilia rider made an unprompted reference to his title rival while summing up his own performance.
"I was feeling good with the bike. I started well this morning, and this afternoon, in between the sessions, I was able to make a small step. In terms of riding, I'm still making a couple of mistakes, but I felt good," he explained. "The track conditions are always very strange, and changing very quickly, so the grip level in this track is not the best - and also because of the characteristics of the track. Normally the braking angle, you never really load the front, so yes, it's like riding always with this sensation."
"It's true that Marc was for sure hiding a little bit, because he didn't even do the second time attack, and I'm sure tomorrow he will be the man to beat, but at the moment it's okay for me," Bezzecchi added.
Marquez, for his part, denied that he was taking it easy on Friday, insisting he was pushing to the limit from the opening session. "It's a circuit to attack and then I need to attack," he said. "It doesn't matter, let's see how I will survive. But the fact that it's a left-corner circuit and most of the hard brake points are on the left side, I believe that it will not be a problem. For that reason I started attack mode from FP1. I'm under the record but not the fastest. So that means that everybody is super fast and everything is very close. It will be a tough weekend but we are there, fighting with the top riders. So this is the most important [thing]."
Bezzecchi topped Friday practice despite continuing to suffer from a double injury he sustained at the German Grand Prix almost two months ago. While his collarbone is recovering well after surgery, his knee - which was severely wounded in the crash - continues to cause significant pain. "Physically, being always on the left with my knee....f**k, the pain never goes away completely," he lamented.
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