MotoGP title challenger Bezzecchi pessimistic for British GP

Marco Bezzecchi has admitted that he is not fully fit as he prepares for a potential MotoGP comeback at the British Grand Prix, conceding his chances of a strong result at Silverstone.

The factory Aprilia rider broke his collarbone during the opening lap of the Sachsenring sprint, forcing him out of the remainder of the German Grand Prix weekend in July. 

During the summer break, he underwent an operation on his shoulder and a separate procedure on his knee, enforcing a lengthy recovery period. It was only last week that he was able to ride a production bike on track, while he will only be able to race a MotoGP bike at Silverstone if he passes a medical test on Friday.

Speaking at the official pre-event press conference for the British Grand Prix, which took place in the heart of London as part of a promotional event, the Italian offered an update on his physical condition.

“I feel not too bad,” he said. "Of course, it's been a tough summer break, not the one that I wanted. I'm still not 100%. The shoulder feels not too bad, but my left knee was also injured, so we will see. 

“I'm very happy to be here, so we will see how it feels tomorrow on the bike."

Explaining his recovery, he added: "During the summer break, I tried to recover in the best way possible, so I never stopped training. I went to the gym every day and fortunately I could also try the bike one day before coming here, so it was a very nice emotion on the bike, much much better than the gym.”

Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

Bezzecchi claimed his first victory as an Aprilia rider at last year’s Silverstone race, taking advantage of a technical issue for polesitter Fabio Quartararo to beat Johann Zarco and Marc Marquez to the top spot.

However, when asked what his chances of repeating that result a year on are, the 27-year-old said: “At the moment, not many [chances], unfortunately.

“Of course, this track is super special to me, I really like the layout and last year I had a very good race, a very good weekend. But this year, we come here with a different mentality because of the situation. So, I'm not really thinking too much about the performance. 

“I'm just thinking about trying to go on the bike, see how it feels. Then, for sure, if I feel good, I will try, but I will know the answer to this only tomorrow.”

Bezzecchi emerged as the championship favourite after kicking off the 2026 campaign with three consecutive grand prix wins. However, his title challenge was severely derailed by a series of issues in the last two months, ranging from a pile-up triggered by Jorge Martin in Hungary to an altercation with a steward that led to him being banned from the Czech GP.

Having failed to score points in the last four Sunday races, he has dropped from first to fourth in the championship, 22 points behind his championship-leading team-mate Martin. 

“It's true that it will not be easy, especially right now,” he said. “But I will try my best to at least be able to fight 'til the end. Then we will see if I will still be in the fight close to the final rounds of the championship. Then will have an extra motivation to try to be able to fight with them.

“At the moment, it's true that we are already halfway to the championship, but halfway means that is still very long. So, let's try to make a decent comeback here in Silverstone and then we will have a bit more time to fix the last detail on my body, and then from Aragon for sure it will be a war.”