Marco Bezzecchi (born 12 November 1998) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer who competes in the 2026 MotoGP World Championship for Aprilia Racing. He made his 2022 MotoGP debut with the VR46 Racing Team and achieved his first-ever victory in the premier-class at the 2023 Argentine motorcycle Grand Prix. Bezzecchi is a member of the VR46 Riders Academy, a motorcycle development program spearheaded by Valentino Rossi.
Bezzecchi was selected as the 2022 MotoGP Rookie of the Year and has achieved nine premier-class victories. In 2025, he joined the Aprilia Racing factory team, with whom he won his first race for the team at the 2025 British Grand Prix. Bezzecchi is contracted to remain at Aprilia until at least the end of the 2028 season.
Career Junior career Bezzecchi won the Italian Moto3 championship in 2015, and made his debut in the 2015 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship that season. He ended the year 16th in the standings, with 29 points, finishing in the top-ten on three occasions. The 2016 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship was very similar for him, finishing in the top-ten three times, this time scoring 31 points, enough for 18th in the standings.
Moto3 World Championship Bezzecchi made his debut in the 2015 Moto3 World Championship, with two wild-card appearances, finishing 26th in Qatar, and retiring in his home Grand Prix of Italy.
Mahindra Racing (2016) In the 2016 season, Bezzecchi again competed in two races, retiring in Austria and finishing 24th at the British Grand Prix. On January 21, 2016, Bezzecchi officially joined the VR46 Riders Academy, an Italian training program for young riders founded in 2013 by Valentino Rossi.
CIP (2017) Bezzecchi competed full time in the 2017 Moto3 World Championship, riding for Mahindra CIP, teammate of Manuel Pagliani. Bezzecchi had a slow rookie season, up until the race in Japan; he finished in 14th once, and 15th twice for a total of four points, but in the Motegi race, he managed a third place, his maiden podium in Moto3. He ended the season with 20 points and 23rd in the championship standings, second among the rookies that year.
Redox PrüstelGP (2018)
For the 2018 season, Bezzecchi would switch teams and ride for Prüstel GP. He won races in Argentina, Austria, and Japan, finished second five times, once in third. He collected two pole positions, ending the season with nine podiums and 214 points, third in the overall championship standings.
Moto2 World Championship Red Bull KTM Tech3 (2019) Partnering Philipp Öttl at Red Bull KTM Tech3 for the 2019 Moto2 World Championship, Bezzecchi had a difficult rookie season at Tech3, finishing in the points only four times. He ended his season with 17 points and 23rd in the championship standings.
Sky Racing Team VR46 (2020–2021) For the 2020 Moto2 World Championship, Bezzecchi joined the newly formed Sky Racing Team VR46, alongside Luca Marini. The duo would have a successful season, winning the teams' championship by 113 points with five race wins between them; Marini had three wins, Bezzecchi two. Bezzecchi won at the Austria Grand Prix and the Valencia Grand Prix, finished second in Misano and Rimini, and finished third at Jerez, Le Mans, and the second Valencia race. He ended his season with seven podiums and 184 points, coming in fourth in the championship standings.
Following Luca Marini moving up to MotoGP, Bezzecchi's teammate for the 2021 season was Celestino Vietti. Bezzecchi often finished in the top five, winning a race in Austria, finishing second in Jerez and Silverstone, and third in Le Mans, Mugello, Germany, and Austin. He finished the year third in the rider's championship with 214 points.
MotoGP World Championship Mooney VR46 Racing Team (2022–2024) For the 2022 season, Bezzecchi was confirmed to be moving up to the premier class, partnering his 2020 teammate at Mooney VR46 Racing Team, Luca Marini. He picked up his first podium finish in MotoGP at the Dutch TT. Later in the season, he took his maiden MotoGP pole position at the Thailand Grand Prix.
In 2023, Bezzecchi achieved his first MotoGP win at the Argentine Republic Grand Prix in rainy conditions, and thus seized the championship lead for the first time in the premier class. His win in Argentina was notably the maiden win for the VR46 Racing Team. Bezzecchi went on to win the 1000th MotoGP Grand Prix at the French Grand Prix. A third win came in India, completing the season in third place.
Aprilia Racing (2025–) On 24 June 2024, it was announced that Bezzecchi would join Aprilia Racing for 2025/2026 alongside Jorge Martín, who Bezzecchi fought with for the 2018 Moto3 Championship. Despite facing stability issues from his adjustment to the Aprilia in the beginning of the 2025 season, Bezzecchi won the British Grand Prix after starting from 11th on the grid; this was his first win in over 600 days (since the 2023 Indian Grand Prix). Bezzecchi performed well in the leadup to the summer break, with two second-place finishes in Assen and Brno, only missing out on three successive podiums due to a crash at the German Grand Prix in between the Dutch and Czech rounds. Bezzecchi finished the first half of the season in fourth, the highest-placed non-Ducati rider. Upon return from the summer break, Bezzecchi scored his first pole position with Aprilia at the Austrian Grand Prix on a track traditionally not suited to the strengths of the RS-GP, with fourth in the sprint and third in the feature race. Bezzecchi would go on to claim more pole positions at the San Marino, Indonesian, Portuguese and Valencian Grand Prix, the last two of which he would go on to win.
At the start of February 2026, Bezzecchi penned a two-year new contract to remain at Aprilia through the 2027 and 2028 seasons. Bezzecchi began the 2026 season by winning the first three grands prix in Thailand, Brazil, and the USA. By leading the U.S. Grand Prix, Bezzecchi broke Jorge Lorenzo's record for most consecutive laps led. In May 2026, he won the Italian motorcycle Grand Prix at the Mugello Circuit for the first time in his career, extending his current lead over teammate Jorge Martin to 17 points.
After crashing out during the Sprint Race at the 2026 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix, Bezzecchi physically slapped a marshal who was attempting to pick up the bike. He was then excluded from the main race the following day.https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/jun/21/motogp-marco-bezzecchi-czech-grand-prix-slap-steward
On June 25, 2026, Aprilia Racing revealed that fellow VR46 Riders Academy member Francesco Bagnaia would be joining Bezzecchi at Aprilia for the 2027 season, with a four-year contract.
Career statistics CIV Moto3 Championship Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Pts 2015 Mahindra MIS1 MIS2 VAL1 VAL2 MUG1 MUG2 IMO1 IMO2 MUG2 MUG2 1st 175
FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pos Pts 2015 Mahindra ALG LMS CAT1 CAT2 ARA1 ARA2 ALB NAV JER1 JER2 VAL1 VAL2 16th 29 2016 Mahindra VAL1 VAL2 LMS ARA CAT1 CAT2 ALB ALG JER1 JER2 VAL1 VAL2 18th 31
Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd Moto3 Mahindra San Carlo Team Italia 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Minimoto Portomaggiore 1 Moto3 Mahindra Mahindra Racing 2 0 0 0 0 0 47th Moto3 Mahindra CIP 18 0 1 0 0 20 23rd Moto3 KTM Redox PrüstelGP 18 3 9 2 0 214 3rd Moto2 KTM Red Bull KTM Tech3 19 0 0 0 0 17 23rd Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 15 2 7 1 1 184 4th Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 18 1 7 1 0 214 3rd MotoGP Ducati Mooney VR46 Racing Team 20 0 1 1 0 111 14th MotoGP Ducati Mooney VR46 Racing Team 20 3 7 3 4 329 3rd MotoGP Ducati Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team 20 0 1 0 0 153 12th MotoGP Aprilia Aprilia Racing 22 3 9 5 2 353 3rd MotoGP Aprilia Aprilia Racing 14 4 10 4 2 284*3rd* Total 188 16 52 17 9 1879
By class Class Seasons 1st GP 1st pod 1st win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp Moto3 2015–2018 2015 Qatar 2017 Japan 2018 Argentina 40 3 10 2 0 234 0 Moto2 2019–2021 2019 Qatar 2020 Andalusia 2020 Styria 52 3 14 2 1 415 0 MotoGP 2022–present 2022 Qatar 2022 Netherlands 2023 Argentina 96 10 28 13 8 1230 0 Total 2015–present 188 16 52 17 9 1879 0
Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pos Pts Moto3 Mahindra QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER INP CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL NC 0 Moto3 Mahindra QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 47th 0 Moto3 Mahindra QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 23rd 20 Moto3 KTM QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 3rd 214 Moto2 KTM QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 23rd 17 Moto2 Kalex QAT SPA ANC CZE AUT STY RSM EMI CAT FRA ARA TER EUR VAL POR 4th 184 Moto2 Kalex QAT DOH POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED STY AUT GBR ARA RSM AME EMI ALR VAL 3rd 214 MotoGP Ducati QAT INA ARG AME POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED GBR AUT RSM ARA JPN THA AUS MAL VAL 14th 111 MotoGP Ducati POR ARG AME SPA FRA ITA GER NED GBR AUT CAT RSM IND JPN INA AUS THA MAL QAT VAL 3rd 329 MotoGP Ducati QAT POR AME SPA FRA CAT ITA NED GER GBR AUT ARA RSM EMI INA JPN AUS THA MAL SLD 12th 153 MotoGP Aprilia THA ARG AME QAT SPA FRA GBR ARA ITA NED GER CZE AUT HUN CAT RSM JPN INA AUS MAL POR VAL 3rd 353 MotoGP Aprilia THA BRA USASPA FRA CAT ITA HUN CZE NED GER GBR ARA RSM AUT JPN INA AUS MAL QAT POR VAL 3rd* 284* Season still in progress.
References
External links
Profile on teamitaliafmi.com