Aprilia says it has stopped putting undue pressure on Marco Bezzecchi to ensure he doesn’t repeat the kind of mistakes that have hampered his title challenge in MotoGP this year.
Bezzecchi reached one of the lowest points of his career this year, as a series of errors derailed his campaign and damaged his standing in the championship.
While his retirement from the Hungarian GP was not self-inflicted, the Brno marshal incident that earned him a race ban, a poor weekend at Assen and a double injury at the Sachsenring tested both his mental and physical strength.
During this period, Aprilia continued to support the 10-time grand prix winner, helping him get back on his feet again and reinstate his title bid with a double podium finish at the British Grand Prix earlier this month.
Team manager Paolo Bonora says he now understands why Bezzecchi has a tendency to make errors, and is actively working to ensure he has the right mindset to tackle the remaining 10 races of the season.
“We have to take care of Marco in the long-distance races to be more calm and not to put any pressure, to try to be part of the game without trying to win every time,” Bonoro said during the official MotoGP broadcast.
“We don't put any expectations on him. We don't put any more pressure on him. We have seen that he made some mistakes where he felt that he had a big potential, where he showed that he can do the best lap time, that he has margin to manage. Probably he tried to do more than necessary in the first part of the race. So we have to take care of this.”
Bezzecchi started the 2026 season as the favourite for the title, with victories at Buriram, Goiania and Austin giving him a sizeable lead in the championship, even as he squandered points in sprint races.
He returned to the top step of the podium with a dominant performance on his home turf in Mugello, before his season began to unravel at Balaton Park.
His comeback at Silverstone, where he was still not fully fit, allowed him to regain second place in the standings, 31 points behind team-mate Jorge Martin.
Bonoro said Aprilia never lost faith in Bezzecchi during the last few months, and constantly reminded the Italian that the team believed in him.
“I like to say to him that he is the same Marco that we love in Mugello. He is the same [rider] and he has only to take care of his energy. This is the only way,” he said.
While Aprilia has built what is arguably the fastest bike on the grid, it has faced a topsy-turvy season amid a stern challenge from reigning champion Ducati.
While the Borgo Panigale manufacturer has beaten it fair and square at times, there were multiple occasions where Aprilia lost victories due to its own making.
Critics also pointed to its quartet of riders for not always extracting the best out of their package, but there has been a notable improvement in recent weekends.
Aprilia riders now lock out the top three spots in the championship, with Martin leading Bezzecchi and Ai Ogura, while British GP winner Raul Fernandez is also not too far behind in sixth.
Summing up the Noale factory’s campaign so far, Bonoro said: “We have seen everything, the top part, the most beautiful part of the season, and the worst part of the season.
“We understood that from a technical point of view that the bike is good. It's good in each circuit where we raced. Even in the last four races [before the summer break], only Marco suffered a lot, scoring zero points, but the other three Aprilia riders did a good job.
“And at the end, we are still in first place in the championships; manufacturers, teams’ and with Jorge [in the riders’ standings].
“We know the potential of our competitor. We know that at this point of the championship, they are with us, but we know our potential and we know which part of the game we have to improve.”
