Marco Bezzecchi jokes he will ask Valentino Rossi for pay rise after Austrian Grand Prix podium finish

Marco Bezzecchi has joked that he will ask MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi for a pay rise after he secured a podium finish at the Austrian Grand Prix.

Bezzecchi battled hard to take third place at the Red Bull Ring, but recently the Italian driver’s future at Mooney VR46 has been uncertain.

In order to ride a full factory bike, the 24-year-old had to decide whether to stay with his current team or join Pramac.

Bezzecchi decided to stay put after having several conversations with his team president Rossi.

However, after the Austrian Grand Prix he joked that he would be asking the legendary driver for a pay rise.

“I’ll ask Valentino for a raise,” Bezzechi joked after he secured his ninth podium finish of the season.

Bezzecchi’s achievement in Austria was no mean feat, as Spaniard Alex Marquez pushed him all the way.

Despite making a number of overtakes early on in the race, the Italian found himself stuck behind the Gresini rider for longer than expected.

“I made overtake after overtake and I was feeling good,” Bezzecchi said.

“I said ‘today I will have fun’, but when I met Alex I knew it would be hard. I was trying to manage the tyre but in the acceleration, I was losing a bit.

“But then, after some laps I saw that he was starting to be in trouble and I was really smooth, really trying to be smooth with the rear to be close to him but the front pressure went really high.

“I tried once but I went wide and then the second time I went wide again. I tried many times but then finally, in the third sector, I was fast and prepared the overtake for the second to last corner. I did it well.”

Bezzecchi also had the pain barrier to contend with, after suffering a crash in the sprint race that left him with injuries to both shoulders.

Bezzecchi chose not to take any medication for the main race despite the pain getting worse during the warm-up.

“To be honest, the left shoulder which is the one that I hit on the ground was okay. Also, the right one, which is the one that Maverick hit with his handlebar, was better.

“I expected worse but it was better. In the warm-up I tried like normal, without any painkillers but after warm-up I saw that it was getting worse.

“So for the race I was not nervous, but I knew it could affect me a bit. But with the adrenaline and concentration I felt nothing.”

Bezzecchi is currently third in the overall 2023 driver rankings with 183 points, six behind Jorge Martin and 68 behind runaway leader Francesco Bagnaia.

He’ll look to secure a podium finish once again at the Catalunya Grand Prix on September 3.

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