Marco Bezzecchi wrapped up a promising Friday at the 2024 Thai Grand Prix, securing his spot in Q2 although suffering from lingering effects of his heavy crash at Phillip Island. The Italian was happy with his start to the weekend.
“Overall, the day was okay – the aim was to get into Q2 and we did it,” Bezzecchi stated after the sessions. “I felt really good in the morning; I can turn in better with the hard rear tyre – actually like I always do when I have the hard tyre on the bike.”
However, as the day progressed, slight struggles started to hit the VR46 rider as he fitted the softer of the two available rear tyre compounds. Although securing a direct spot in Q2, ‘Bez’ wasn’t all that happy with how the evening session unfolded.
“I had a bit more trouble at the rear. It’s the same problem as we had in Indonesia. We have to try to fix it; it costs too much time,” he explained the urgency of the problem.
“I’m quite happy with the day in many areas. I would have expected it to be a bit better,” he admitted. “My left shoulder hurts a bit – it burns when I ride. The heat is not a problem.”
“Fortunately, the hard braking zones are all stressful for the right side of the body. But I had hoped that it would be a bit better.”
Looking ahead to Saturday, Bezzecchi hopes that some simple treatment will help with his hurting shoulder. “We’ll treat the shoulder in the evening and see if we can get through Saturday.”
