Marco Bezzecchi was inspired to travel to Indonesia just days after breaking his collarbone in a training accident and undergoing surgery to have the injury plated by Jorge Lorenzo.
The VR46 Ducati rider was only cleared to race after participating in free practice on Friday but the effort was worthwhile, with Bezzecchi riding through the pain barrier to score a battling podium in third place in the MotoGP Sprint at Mandalika.
The Italian rider drew inspiration from when Lorenzo famously claimed a remarkable fifth place at the Dutch MotoGP at Assen in 2013 after breaking his collarbone following a massive highside in FP2.
He flew to Barcelona for treatment on the injury and underwent surgery early on the Sunday morning only hours before the race, returning to Assen and claiming a stunning top six finish.
“To be honest I thought a lot about this episode when I was at home, but I didn’t expect to make this because MotoGP is different now, the riders are very strong, everyone, and here is very hot,” said Bezzecchi.
“I didn’t expect, so I’m very happy and [today] is another day.”
After qualifying ninth, he worked his way through to grab the final rostrum place from Aprilia’s Maverick Viñales on the last lap as he finished behind team-mate Luca Marini – making his comeback after breaking his collarbone in India – and race winner Jorge Martin.
“It was a fantastic feeling, but also it was very tough to arrive to the end,” Bezzecchi said.
“To be honest, in the first six or seven laps I felt almost like normal, but maybe it was the adrenaline from the start of the initial part of the race.
“Then, I started to feel the pain a lot more. But when I was quite far from Luca [Marini] and Maverick [Viñales] with the fresh air it was not too difficult to manage.
“When I caught Maverick, also to have a different braking style – because when you are behind someone you have to brake in a different way stronger to stop the bike – I started to feel pain.
“I was risking some force on the arm to go in [to the corners]. In fact, when I tried to overtake Maverick, twice I went wide, but in the end, I really gave my all to beat him and I’m very happy.”
Bezzecchi, third in the championship and 56 points behind new leader Martin with six rounds remaining, admits today’s longer, 27-lap Grand Prix will present a much more difficult challenge.
“It will be very tough because it is a double race distance, so I don’t know [what to expect] to be honest,” he said.
“I hope the adrenaline will help but we will see. I will try to give my all and try to bring home the best result that I can to stay close to the top guys.
“I will try to enjoy and continue to live this fantastic season, but also, I don’t want to stress myself too much because we have Phillip Island and also Thailand [on successive weekends].
“It depends a lot where I will be; if I’m closer to the top I will try my best but if I have to save myself I will do it.”
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