Moto2, who will win? The pros and cons of Marco Bezzecchi

Now in his second year in the category, Marco Bezzecchi is the final contender for the Moto2 title. His is something of a "Mission Impossible“, as he’ll need to win at Portimao and hope that Bastianini makes a false step, 23 points ahead of him.

While ‘ifs’ and buts’ help no one, a win last weekend would have been very helpful for Bez, considering Marini and Bastianini were not on the podium and an injured Lowes closed just 14th.

Shaped by the difficulties

While his 2019 debut season was one to forget, the Italian scoring just 17 points in 19 races, Bez started 2020 in a very different situation and with a decidedly more competitive package than the KTM of the previous year. A few mistakes and just one non-top-ten finish aside (12th in Qatar), the rest of the season has seen Bezzecchi regularly finish inside the top ten, close to the top 5. His convincing wins at the Stiria and Europe GP stand out, the rider showing his rivals that he too would feature in the title fight.

He’s proved that it’s possible to survive tough times and come out stronger. A podium in Andalusia after a DNF in Spain, a podium in France after a seventh-place finish in Barcelona and, particularly, a win at Valencia 1 coming after a double zero at Aragon. And now Bezzecchi finds himself in a similar position to 2018, in Moto3, when he was fighting Martin and Di Giannantonio for the title.

Prone to mistakes

While, on the one hand, Bezzecchi has proved he can come through the difficulties, on the other hand, he still has work to do to correct a level of over-excitement that often leads to mistakes. His crash in Spain just six laps into the race is just one example, and the double error at Aragon weighs heavily, the first coming on the penultimate lap when he appeared in control of the race, while the second came on lap three, the rider overly keen to make up for his previous mistake.

He’s in good company here though, because his team-mate Luca Marini has also lost points along the way, firstly in Qatar when he came into contact with Dixon at the end of the race, then a 17th position at Le Mans after a crash in practice and the crash at Aragon 1. Sam Lowes, who is back in the mix thanks to three consecutive wins (France and two at Aragon), has also made mistakes.

What will it take in the final race

Bezzecchi is up against a real mission impossible, with 23 points to make up and just one race left to do it in. But history has taught us that that kind of lead is not always enough for the frontrunner to be assured of title success. As we’ve seen during the season, one mistake for a rider is enough to turn things upside down, the leadership having changed hands at least three or four times throughout the year, and three times between Aragon and Valencia alone.

So Bezzecchi shouldn’t make calculations; he just needs to win and hope something happens to the three ahead of him if he wants to lift the title trophy.

Translated by Heather Watson

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