VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi admits he has “to change” his riding style on the 2023 spec Ducati, citing it doesn’t feel “automatic” after a turbulent start to his 2024 MotoGP season.
Bezzecchi made a remarkable impression last season which saw him finish third in the Riders’ Championship during his second full season in the premier class.
The Italian picked up three wins and appeared on the rostrum a further three times, but elected to remain with VR46 as it received last term’s Desmosedici bike.
A difficult start in Qatar saw him placed 14th before Portimao provided a respectable sixth-place finish, but woes in the Sprints have seen him unable to add to his points.
Bezzecchi believes he is still adjusting to the GP23 bike due to how different it was from his previous GP22 bike under braking.
“I have to change [my riding style],” he said. “I’m still trying to change because it’s still not automatic for me to ride in this way.
“Last year I was really strong to bring the bike in[to the corners] with a lot of braking, a lot of pressure on the brake. I was really strong on that point, to stop the point at an angle.
“This bike works in the opposite way, so it has to stop really well in a straight. But then you have to release the brake to make the bike turn.
“When you keep the brake, the bike is turning less compared to last year, so for me it’s still not really natural to go in and release the brake. My instinct tells me to keep the brakes.
“But making some changes on the bike, I’m trying to focus a lot on doing this while riding. I made some big improvements, [Portimao] is also a difficult track for these kinds of things because you have many braking [areas] at an angle. So I’m working on it.”
The Portimao Sprint race saw Bezzecchi start sixth on the grid, but a disappointing start led to him falling down to 13th by the end of the first lap.
The Italian admits that this race attribute is one that needs improving as the season progresses.
“In the Sprint, I unfortunately made a mistake at the start,” he explained. “I’m still struggling with the starts.
“This clutch is really tough and unfortunately, it’s been three years for me. It’s really difficult to be constant in starts. During these years I never made three or four good starts in a row.
“The clutch feeling is always different. So unfortunately, I got a big wheelie in the beginning so I lost acceleration. So after [that] I was in the mid-pack.
“The Ducati clutch is really tough from my first year in MotoGP. I’ve never been a hero on starts, even with the Moto2 [bike].
“But once I changed to the MotoGP [bike], I really struggled a lot. Last year I was able to be constantly, not perfect, but at least quite good.
“In Qatar this year with this bike I started very well but here [in Portugal] unfortunately, no.”
