Marco Bezzecchi denies he was too eager after MotoGP Thailand sprint crash

Bezzecchi admits his mistake after failing to convert his early promise into a sprint win

Marco Bezzecchi has denied suggestions he was too eager to win the Thailand Grand Prix sprint after crashing out of the lead of the race.

Bezzecchi went into Saturday’s half-distance race at Buriram as the favourite for victory, having qualified on pole position and dominated Friday practice.

But after an early squabble with reigning world champion Marc Marquez, he tucked the front of his Aprilia RS-GP on lap 3 and retired from the sprint.

This was his third crash of the day, having also suffered a fall in FP2 in the morning and tumbled again on his final flying lap in qualifying.

Explaining the incident from his point of view, Bezzecchi said: “It was a small mistake. I touched the inside line with the front a bit, and I lost the front the first time.

“I tried to save it and I was almost there, but then, when I touched the gas to try to pick up the bike. I lost the front completely and then I was under the bike, so it was impossible to save it. But yeah, a small mistake, I tried to close the line a bit more.”

When asked if he was too eager to build a gap to the chasing pack in the early stages of the race, the Italian said: “Well, for sure, I was trying to make a gap, but it's normal in the sprint to try to start in front and try to make a gap. Part of the job.”

When it was put to him that he had been the fastest rider all weekend, he added: “Yeah, but as you know, everyone is super close right now, so it's normal.

“Maybe I was slightly faster and I wanted to try to stay in front. It's normal when you try to stay in front that you have to push.”

Bezzecchi played down the significance of crashing twice on Saturday, insisting mistakes are bound to happen when MotoGP riders push their bikes to the limit.

“Well, for you, I was riding easily with one arm yesterday,” he said, referring to his dominant run in practice.

“The reality is that I was pushing also yesterday, like a b*****d. Maybe I could have crashed yesterday. At the end, I crashed today.

“I'm sorry, but we are riding on the limit every time, so it's normal to make some mistakes.

“This is the difference between good riders and bad riders. Today, maybe I was not the best one because I made too many mistakes.

“But I cannot do it in a different way, we have to push all the time.”