Marco Bezzecchi has been given a double long-lap penalty for the Australian Grand Prix as a punishment for the Indonesia crash that has sidelined Marc Marquez from at least the next two MotoGP rounds.
The Aprilia rider also arrives at Phillip Island still in significant pain from the crash, but with high expectations in the paddock that he will be a pacesetter this weekend regardless of his penalty.
The penalty
The MotoGP stewards held off from awarding Bezzecchi a penalty in the immediate aftermath of the Mandalika collision because he went to hospital for checks.
They reconvened to hold a proper hearing with him nearly two weeks later on Thursday morning at Phillip Island. A double long-lap penalty for Sunday’s grand prix was awarded on the grounds of “irresponsible” riding plus it being a second offence after he was given an official warning for a first-lap incident in the Argentinian GP in March when he sent Fabio Quartararo to the back of the field and took himself out.
When asked by The Race for his view on the hearing and penalty, Bezzecchi admitted “we are riders, we always want less” in such situations but had no real complaints.
“It’s normal, and I accept the penalty and I will give my best to try to get the best result anyway,” he added.
MASSIVE CRASH FOR BEZ AND @marcmarquez93 💥
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 5, 2025
Thankfully both are walking away 👀#IndonesianGP 🇮🇩 pic.twitter.com/hqM7sKqVV0
Bezzecchi confirmed the theory that he hadn’t even been trying to overtake Marquez but was just arriving at a different speed and trajectory because he’d had to pick the bike up slightly at the previous corner.
“I didn’t want to try any overtake,” he said.
“Just I picked up because I was tighter in that corner, but I didn’t expect him to brake so much.
“It was my mistake, I was behind. It was a misjudgement mistake. I was a bit too fast. I tried to brake, to pick up the bike to brake stronger.”
The pain and the gravel
Both riders took violent tumbles through the gravel trap in the incident, and fan footage that emerged in the days afterwards appeared to show Bezzecchi briefly unconscious when he came to rest.
He said that wasn’t the case and he was simply winded from the violence of the impact.
“No, no, I was always conscious, I stayed down because from the hit especially in my back I couldn't breathe,” he said.
“So I stayed there trying to wait for the moment when the breath came back.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever hit your ribs or your back? For sure you can understand how the feeling was. Duplicate it by thousands.”
And he put the severity of the impact down to the step between the asphalt run-off and the gravel trap section, suggesting that it would have been a much smaller accident otherwise.
“Fortunately I only hit the rear end of his bike just a little bit so it was just sliding,” Bezzecchi said.
“The problem was outside the track, that the step in the gravel was like this.
“If not, the consequence could be much, much less for him. And also for me. In the gravel I destroyed my body.”
Mandalika officials have so far indicated that they won’t make any changes to that part of the track until the FIM delivers its report on the incident.
Bezzecchi said requests for more asphalt run-off are usually shrugged off but expects something to be done after this crash.
“I don’t know. Ask them,” he replied when asked if that corner needed a larger asphalt run-off.
“When we speak, they always say that the riders ask for gravel. So I have no idea.
“But maybe for sure they will make some improvements after the incident. It would be good.”
Asked by The Race how he was feeling now, Bezzecchi replied: “Next question… No, I feel good. A lot of pain, especially in my back, but from how the crash was I feel quite OK.”
He admitted to some concern about the Phillip Island track being “super-quick and quite demanding physically” considering he had suffered painful accidents in both the previous two rounds, but hopes the forecast cold temperatures will help.
“It’s not good for the pain but for resistance and consistency of the body, it’s better,” he said of the cold weather.
Bezzecchi and Aprilia have been extremely competitive since the MotoGP season resumed after the summer break, taking pole at the Red Bull Ring, Misano and Mandalika, and winning the sprints at the latter two venues. He hasn’t won an actual grand prix since Silverstone in May, but has had five Sunday podiums since then.
Having come back from a poor start to still win the Mandalika sprint, and shown plenty of pace through that track’s fastest sectors, he would be a strong favourite for Phillip Island victory - especially in Marquez’s absence - but for his penalty.
Bezzecchi wouldn’t be drawn on how he felt about his and Aprilia’s likely competitiveness in Australia.
But he did say that he wasn’t going to let either the pain he was in or his penalty affect his mindset going into the weekend.
“I cannot start with not a good mood because of this,” said Bezzecchi.
“I have to give my best, achieve the best that I can.”
