Marco Bezzecchi plays down German GP chances: 'I'm in a lot of pain'

Aprilia factory rider Marco Bezzecchi will come into this weekend's German Grand Prix in conservative mode despite losing the lead of the world championship last time out in the Netherlands. 

Bezzecchi's high-speed crash in the Dutch Grand Prix has left him with "a lot of pain" and the Italian rider suggested he would not succumb to any temptation to try and strike back with a big points haul as MotoGP heads into its summer break. 

The Assen accident came after Bezzecchi was taken out of the Hungarian Grand Prix two races earlier, which led to him arriving at the Czech Grand Prix bruised and feeling the pressure. That weekend, he added another crash and an attack on a marshal to his portfolio of recent woes. 

The Rimini man appeared in good spirits when chatting to media at the Sachsenring on Thursday, however, and was happy to be frank about the Assen accident and his fitness.

"I was just a little bit too fast," he said of the early, high-speed tumble last time out. "And when I touched the gas, I lost the front. Basically, this was a common mistake, but in a very fast corner. So, this is why the crash was bigger, of course."

Thought Bezzecchi avoided significant injury, the aftermath of the accident was by no means comfortable. 

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

"It was not an easy week at all. Obviously, the crash at Assen was a big one. Fortunately no broken bones, but a lot of pain all over my body. Apart from the arms, all the rest is painful. Basically, I'm very, very happy to be here," continued Bezzecchi.

"It's not a normal situation, because realistically, physically, I'm very far from 100%. So, the target for me at the moment is not like a normal weekend, [which would be] 'I hope to perform well. I hope to fight for the podium or the win.' 

"In my case, I [will see] session by session. Because I couldn't ride [a] bike; I couldn't train at home. I really couldn't do almost anything apart from medical checks. 

"[The only thing in my mind is] to get on the bike tomorrow morning, starting from FP1, and hopefully I will feel good. I will have to manage my energy, my everything, for the whole weekend. So, let's start from tomorrow morning."
 
Bezzecchi led the championship almost uninterrupted before his team-mate Jorge Martin capitalised on the Assen accident to move seven points ahead at the top of the table.