Marco Bezzecchi admitted he wasn’t expecting a record-breaking victory in the COTA MotoGP race after crashing out of Saturday’s Sprint. The Italian broke the record for the most consecutive laps led by a rider in MotoGP on his way to Sunday’s victory, when he became just the third rider in the modern era to win five successive grands prix.

However, it wasn’t all plain-sailing for Bezzecchi, who dropped off the front row after receiving a two-place grid penalty after qualifying. To compound his Saturday misery, he crashed out of the Sprint while running in second place and lost the lead in the championship.

Bezzecchi admitted his error in the Sprint race affected him more than he may have anticipated, but it made the comeback on Sunday even sweeter. “I wasn’t expecting a day like this after yesterday because it wasn’t easy and I made a mistake and it was important to bounce back,” Bezzecchi told TNT Sports after the race. “But honestly, I was pretty sad yesterday, luckily my team, my squad was very close to me and they gave me the motivation to try to bounce back.” Anyway, I wasn’t expecting a race like this and I’m so happy, I really can’t describe my emotions right now.

The Aprilia rider still seemed disappointed about his Sprint crash despite his success on Sunday, admitting he was “sad” afterwards. Bezzecchi has potentially lost 30 points after crashing from two of the three Sprints this year, and had some less than kind words about the manner of the COTA circuit. “This track is a b****** because we’ve these tight corners, you always try more and more and more, and you arrive to a certain moment where the bike says to you ‘no more’,” Bezzecchi said. “So because of this it was tough. We worked hard yesterday night in the box to try to fix everything in my riding especially because the bike was already good. Fortunately, it was good”.

As Bezzecchi returns to the lead in the championship over team-mate and former title winner Martin, the Italian will have to iron out some of the errors. However, the 27-year-old also admitted he was taking the positives from the negatives, even if he needs support in the tough moments. “At the end, everything gives me a bit more experience,” Bezzecchi said. “It’s true that it’s bad when you make these kinds of mistakes, but you learn more from tough moments compared to very good moments.” It’s tough to accept, a tough pill to swallow, but at the end it’s what makes you stronger. At the moment, this is my mentality.

“I will try to learn from these kinds of days like yesterday, and of course enjoy the days like today, but try always to be focused and [keep my] feet on the ground with the whole team,” Bezzecchi concluded. This victory highlights not only Bezzecchi's individual skill but also the strong support and strategy of his Aprilia Racing team, which was crucial for overcoming challenges and achieving success in the competitive world of MotoGP.