Aprilia sought to reduce the pressure on Marco Bezzecchi at Silverstone, where the MotoGP title contender responded with a pair of podium finishes.<\/p>\n
After a nightmare run of incidents, penalties and injuries before the summer break, former MotoGP title leader Marco Bezzecchi returned to form with a double podium at Silverstone.<\/p>\n
The Aprilia star\u2019s best weekend since his home victory at Mugello in May also moved him into second place behind team-mate Jorge Martin in the world championship standings.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the Silverstone weekend, Aprilia team manager Paolo Bonora told MotoGP pit lane reporter Jack Appleyard about how the factory aimed to help Bezzecchi make a fresh start.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no summer break for us. As usual, we took the opportunity to analyse from a long-distance view what happened during the first part of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you probably saw, we experienced everything, the most beautiful parts and the worst parts of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understood that, from the technical point of view, the bike is good on each circuit. Only Marco suffered a lot – making [six non-scores in eight races].<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the other three Aprilia riders still did a good job and, at the end, we are still in the first place of the world championships for the manufacturer, the team, and with Jorge [in the riders\u2019].<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, the message is, we know the potential of our competitor, we know our potential, and we know the part of the game where we have to improve.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aprilia's main concern was unsurprisingly Bezzecchi, who scored just 13 of a possible 148 points across Balaton, Brno, Assen and Sachsenring.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn particular we have to take care with Marco in the long races, to be more calm, and to don\u2019t put any pressure," Bonora said.<\/p>\n
"To try to be part of the game, without trying to win every time.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us it's a new season [from now] and we say to him exactly this, 'take this opportunity, think about this as a new start'.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bonora added: \u201cWe have seen that he made some mistakes where he felt that he had a big potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere he showed that he can do the best lap time and that he has margin to manage, probably he tried to push more than necessary in the first part of the race.<\/p>\n