Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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"I had the possibility to see Alex [Marquez] many laps yes- terday, and my lines were not the best ones," Bezzecchi said. "But for sure also the guys, they did something to help me, to be less aggressive on the bike, to try to let the bike go a little bit more. Anyway, I had good confi - dence on the front, making this modification, then everything started to be a little bit better." "It was already clear in the warmup that Marco [Bezzecchi] had made a big step forward compared to yesterday, and in the race, he was stronger than us," Marquez said. "I tried to stay Sunday DNF is a heavy blow to his fight for third in the stand - ings. At the front, Bezzecchi gradu- ally stretched his advantage over Marquez, holding a 2.2-sec- ond lead by lap 15. Acosta ran a lonely third but later found late pace and closed rapidly on Marquez in the final laps. Despite this charge, Marquez held firm, while Bezzecchi remained untouchable to take a dominant lights-to-flag victory, the sixth different winner in as many Grands Prix and a mile - stone third win of the season for Aprilia. ROUND 21 / NOVEMBER 7-9, 2025 ALGARVE INTERNATIONAL CIRCUIT / PORTIMAO, PORTUGAL P74 ACOSTA'S HEROISM EXPLAINED Pedro Acosta continued his run of astonishing performances in Portugal with a fight for the ages in Saturday's Sprint. Despite Alex Marquez enjoying a clear trac- tion advantage, most notably in the final sector, the KTM rider produced a defensive ride for the ages as he repeatedly stemmed the Ducati's attacks. What was more impressive was how Acosta was only too happy to hang in the direct slipstream of his rivals in an age when Michelin's front tire is susceptible to temperature and pressure rises when behind other bikes. Managing the front tire in this state is what caught Pol Es- pargaro's eye: "This is something I struggle with, because on the test days, I'm completely alone. You enter in a different world of riding. You start with a very high level of grip, then it's dropping, so you need to adapt to the end. And then if you go close, you lose your downforce on the stopping, you have all the shaking of the bikes, and it's very difficult. Pedro overtook Alex, braking in turn five, how he was super close exiting, shaking the bike. This is what it generates, you know when you are behind a MotoGP bike today. And it's impressive." HONDA CONCESSIONS CHANGE "GOOD NEWS" Honda's MotoGP riders believe the prospect of the factory losing its current concessions tier would be "nothing but good news," ac- cording to Joan Mir. Honda riders need to score just 19 points in the final two rounds to go from the D-ranking to C, which would mean Briefly... Miguel Oliveira signed off from MotoGP at home with a 14th-place finish on Sunday. Nicolo Bulega (11) held on for a point in 15th. ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP