The first sprint race in history at Balaton Park ended with both factory riders in the points. Marco Bezzecchi was one of the protagonists in qualifying, taking an excellent second spot on the starting grid after going from Q1 through to Q2. However, in the sprint race, contact on the first turn forced him to drop back several positions, all the way to eighth. Despite the setback, he finished seventh, but without being able to fully express the potential showed in qualifying.
Jorge Martín, who started from the seventeenth spot on the grid, had an exceptional first lap which launched him all the way into twelfth place. The Spanish rider continued his comeback with determination, battling consistently in the points zone and finishing ninth.
MARCO BEZZECCHI
“I had fun in qualifying and I ended up doing a good time. Unfortunately, episodes like the one at the start can happen, especially with such a tight first corner. All in all, things worked out okay for me because I could have been hit square on, but in the end, I was able to stand the bike back up. Unfortunately, after that I lost a lot of positions, so I did the most I was able to do.”
JORGE MARTÍN
“The first turn was rather chaotic. From there, I started looking for my space, overtaking some riders and continuing my comeback little by little until I was ninth. It was a good battle. I’m taking steps forward in terms of confidence with the front end, although I’m still lacking a bit of grip at the rear. The positive thing is that I’m beginning to feel the RS-GP25’s limit and to understand where we need to improve, so I can focus more on those points. I’m increasingly more comfortable on the bike.”
FABIANO STERLACCHINI
“The day started off well because we did an outstanding job on the analysis yesterday evening and we sorted an entire range of issues that allowed us to qualify second with Marco, as well as achieve a good pace in FP2 both with him and with Jorge. Unfortunately, the start conditioned Marco’s result a bit. Without that initial problem, he would have been able to finish farther ahead, but those are situations that come with the territory in this sport. Jorge had the sort of race we expected – useful for gaining experience, putting in some miles, and, in terms of riding, allowing him to get to know the bike better and better.”
