Ducati MotoGP team boss Davide Tardozzi believes Marco Bezzecchi “was in too much of a rush” in the Indonesian Grand Prix after an ill-judged move on the opening lap sent both him and Marc Marquez out of the race.
Bezzecchi had claimed pole position by over four tenths of a second in the Aprilia rider’s most competitive showing of 2025, but a poor launch left him in eighth place and with a lot of ground to cover.
The Italian had already shown on Saturday that he had the pace to recover from the lower reaches of the top 10, having taken victory on the last lap of the sprint after a similarly slow start.
However, as the 26-year-old moved to the inside to have a go at Marquez in Sunday’s race, he hit the rear tyre of the Ducati and knocked them both into the gravel trap.
The crash had major consequences as Marquez broke his shoulder after rolling over in the gravel, while Bezzecchi himself had to be transported to a hospital, where it was revealed he had escaped serious injury.
Bezzecchi visited Marquez after the race to apologise for the crash, a gesture Tardozzi appreciated. But he feels the Aprilia got too greedy on the opening lap of the race, and should have played the long game.
“Marco did a fantastic weekend until the first lap of the race because he showed that he was the fastest,” Tardozzi told MotoGP.com.
“I think that he must think a bit more and wait. He was in too much of a rush. As usual, the same words, the race is not to be won on the first lap, but [by] thinking [about] 27 laps.
“I think Marco made a mistake. But he gives his views to us and Marc. We look forward to seeing both riders at the race track.”
Bezzecchi’s exit on the opening lap came as a major blow to Aprilia, leaving the Noale-based brand with only a single rider to carry its hopes in the remainder of the race.
Aprilia Racing CEO Massimo Rivola also admitted that Bezzecchi was overeager to recover lost ground after getting bogged down at the start of the race.
“Everybody saw during the race weekend that his race pace was quite impressive,” Rivola told MotoGP’s website. “Sector 2 was the place where he was going so much faster than the average of the others.
“Maybe he was distracted, he didn’t realise the speed he had in that slow corner.
“For sure, if he was in a different position, [this would not have happened]. Maybe he also got nervous; I don’t know if he wanted to recover too quickly.
“When you feel you have the pace to win, you want to get it back as soon as possible, but clearly it was a mistake.”
Speaking to reporters after the race, he added: “It’s really something that we would like to avoid seeing, but in this kind of competition, you know how tight the performance is in MotoGP.
“They are all warriors that try to get the best out of the bike, maybe sometimes not thinking too much about strategy, because clearly he had the pace to recover. He did that yesterday in half the number of laps.”
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