Marco Bezzecchi sympathises with Australian MotoGP fans as Phillip Island rained out

It was “amazing” to see how many fans were still at Phillip Island for the MotoGP parade lap after the race was cancelled, says Marco Bezzecchi.

Bezzecchi went to Phillip Island as one of the pre-race favourites having been the fastest rider there last year, although a double long lap penalty prevented him from battling for the win.

But the Italian’s weekend was made difficult by a poor qualifying on the third row in wet conditions. 

He raced well in the Sprint to come back to fourth, but all riders were denied the chance to compete on Sunday as poor weather conditions prevented the medical helicopter from flying and therefore the race from starting; this on the iconic Phillip Island circuit’s final MotoGP weekend before being replaced by the commercially preferable Adelaide city track in 2027.

Bezzecchi said afterwards that he wanted to race, even in the wet conditions. Francesco Bagnaia and Pedro Acosta had similar opinions, but it simply wasn’t possible without the helicopter being able to fly.

Without racing, the fans were left to soak in the rain all morning and deep into the afternoon as race direction hoped an opening would appear in which the race could be run, but it did not.

“A lot. Really. Difficult to describe,” Marco Bezzecchi told TNT Sports after the race was cancelled when asked how much he wanted to race.

“It’s a shame first of all for all the people because Phillip Island, for all the Australian people, is an historical track. 

“It’s a difficult race to reach, so I imagine they travelled a lot and they’ve been struggling to come here. 

“But when we made the parade, the amount of people still here for us was amazing, so first of all it’s a shame for them. 

“Then obviously also for us – racing is our passion so we love it, but it’s something that we can’t control unfortunately, so I hope to come back soon here.”

With just the results from the Sprint, Bezzecchi goes to Malaysia next week 50 points adrift in the championship after Marc Marquez won on Saturday and Jorge Martin crashed out.

“We always take the positive,” he said in view of the championship situation.

“Yesterday was a good Sprint. I’m a bit angry for the qualifying still, but the performance on the Sprint was good, so this was for sure a positive thing.”