Chatting With Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini

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Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini might have different personalities and styles but both are the right fit for the Mooney VR46 Racing Team. (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/)

The sun and the moon: Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini couldn’t be more different in terms of personality, but this is what makes them so special as teammates. The Mooney VR46 Racing riders couldn’t be a better mirror of nine-time world champion Valentino Rossi, owner of the team and the VR46 Academy.

Marco, also known as “Bez,” is solar, easygoing, and he loves to connect. He is the first to give a hug to every team member in the morning as soon as he shows up in the garage. He is the first to make a joke, because there is always a good reason for laughing. He is explosive on and off track.

Bez is easygoing and always seems to be having fun, much like his boss Valentino Rossi. (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/)

Luca Marini, Valentino’s brother, also known as “Maro,” is more introverted. It takes him more time to give confidence, but once he gives it to you, he is open and you know you can fully rely on him.

Elegant and classy, Maro is a prince, well educated, and a very smooth rider.

Related: World Ducati Week 2022 Race of Champions

Maro is quieter than Bez, but is—much like his brother and boss, Rossi—smooth and elegant. (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/)

What do they have in common? They are both smart, humble, and have a very solid family behind them. They both can achieve the ultimate target in MotoGP, but they will do it in their own way. We joined them for a chat to get a feel for their unique styles.

Three adjectives to describe your bike.

Marco Bezzecchi: “Beautiful, fast, and complex.”

Luca Marini: “Powerful, unique, technologic.”

Three adjectives to describe you as a rider.

Bez: “I don’t want to boast of qualities. I prefer that others describe me.”

Maro: “Intelligent, cold, technical.”

Bezzecchi doesn’t like to boast, but he has found great success in the 2023 MotoGP season with two GP wins and multiple podium finishes this season. He currently sits third in championship points. (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/)

Three adjectives to describe you as a person.

Bez: “Friendly, touchy, solar.”

Marini: “Smart, introvert, generous.”

Your dream as a child.

Bez: “A motorbike racer.”

Maro: “Since I was a kid, I have never made long-term plans.”

What would you have done if you were not a rider?

Bez: “My dream has always been to become a professional rider; alternatively, I would have become a mechanic.”

Maro: “Always something around sport. I love it. I would say a football player. I love it. I was good at football but inside my heart I had already decided to become a professional rider.”

Marini sits sixth in the 2023 MotoGP championship with half of the season left. (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/)

The feeling when you cross the finish line in front of everyone?

Bez: “It’s the ultimate happiness. It’s impossible to describe such an explosive cocktail of extreme emotions. When I won in Argentina with Ducati I couldn’t believe it.”

Maro: “It’s a great satisfaction. One of the strongest emotions I have ever felt in my life is scoring the first podium in MotoGP with Ducati. It’s a sort of national pride. An Italian rider on an Italian bike. It’s also the result of a great team work—the people on track, but also all the engineers in the factory at Borgo Panigale.”

According to Radio Paddock, it’s easy to win with a Ducati. How do you respond to that?

Bez: “It’s easy to speak, I would like to see them try. Winning is never easy, no matter which bike you are riding.”

Maro: “The winner always has the best bike.”

Your dream bike?

Bez: “The bike that I would have loved to ride is the Aprilia 250 two-stroke. It was really iconic.”

Maro: “I would love to ride a 500cc [GP] bike. It’s an iconic bike, an indomitable beast. I have heard so many stories about the 500cc category that it would be a dream to ride it once.”

Who would you see as the strongest of the grid on a 500cc bike?

Bez: “It’s difficult to compare bikes of different eras, but I would say the levels of the current grid wouldn’t change.”

Maro: “It’s difficult to answer because we never tried such a bike. I guess it is so difficult from the modern MotoGP we are riding.”

Kenny Roberts or Barry Sheene?

Bez: “Barry Sheene, because he has always been out of the box and the first to always keep his number—the 7—creating a legacy.”

Maro: “Kenny Roberts. I have always liked him. He is one of the most influential and prominent figures in Grand Prix motorcycle racing history. America’s first world champion, ‘King Kenny’ won three 500cc titles.”

Mick Doohan or Kevin Schwantz?

Bez: “Definitely Kevin Schwantz. I have always loved him for his spectacular riding style. I have also been lucky to meet him and he is such a cool person. I resonate a lot with his style.”

Maro: “Kevin Schwantz. Although he won less than other racers of his time, he has always been very special in his riding style as well as in his approach to life and races.”

The most useful advice that you have received from Valentino Rossi?

Bez: “He gave me so much advice—every one is important. Difficult to select one. Maybe his ability to always see the positive side and never give up. It has been a difficult path for me and my family to be where I am now. My parents have made huge sacrifices, and it has been a long road. But even with their support, without Valentino it would have been almost impossible to do it. Meeting him was fundamental; he made me grow as a person and then as a rider. He took me on his team in Moto2 and then he brought me to MotoGP. I will never stop thanking him enough.”

Maro: “The fact that we are brothers has led to many confrontations and certainly my career would be different if I weren’t so close to Vale. However, what matters is where I am at the moment, which is the place where I wanted to be since I was a child. He has given me so much advice. How he moves, speaks with us, trains with us is the best advice.”

Imagine you are a MotoGP racer and your older brother is a nine-time world champion—and your boss. No pressure… (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/)

The most important thing you learned at the Ranch?

Bez: “At the Ranch we learn how to control the bike in extreme, unexpected, and complex circumstances.”

Maro: “Training at the Ranch we develop a lot of the feeling with the bike and with the tires. In addition, as we compete with all the other VR46 riders, I can study the others, take some secrets and bring them into my training or riding. The target is always to improve myself.”

Why is the VR46 Academy so special?

Bez: “Because it is run directly by Valentino Rossi!”

Maro: “Because both the Academy and the team allow us to push beyond our limits every day.”

What do you envy of your teammate?

Bez: “His ability to remain focused and centered in some complex circumstances.”

Maro: “The fact that he has already won two races in MotoGP.”

A quality that you would take from your teammate?

Bez: “His lucidity in difficult situations.”

Maro: “Marco’s height!”

Your point of reference.

Bez: “Valentino Rossi. Full stop.”

Maro: “Valentino Rossi, of course. He is the greatest of all time. He has made the history of motorcycle racing.”

As with most VR46 Academy riders, Rossi is the inspiration, goal, and mentor. (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/)

Leaning or drifting?

Bez: “I love both.”

Maro: “I love drifting even if it is not useful in MotoGP.”

Your perfect race: winning at the last lap after a hard battle, or running away and winning alone?

Bez: “Definitely the second one, it’s safer. Why do we have to risk when nothing is certain in racing?”

Maro: “A hard battle till the last corner. This is the ultimate satisfaction.”

TT, Dakar Rally, or Formula 1—the dream race in your bucket list?

Bez: “I would love to compete in Formula 1. It would be amazing.”

Maro: “I am happy in MotoGP, but I would love to return racing in old-school and iconic racetracks such as Laguna Seca or Brno.”

At what racetrack would you love to race most?

Bez: “I would love to race at Laguna Seca. It’s an old-school track that requires so much courage and bravery. You cannot mess up with it. And then the Corkscrew—one of the most difficult turns in racing.”

Maro: “I would love to return to racing in Brno—a roller coaster of emotions.”

The most important technical figure in the team?

Bez: “I cannot pick one because everyone is fundamental. The rider may seem alone on track, but he is not. He has the whole crew behind him, it’s a team victory.”

Maro: “The crew chief. He is the reference in the team.”

Training or instinct?

Bez: “I follow my instinct.”

Maro: “You need both.”

Head or heart?

Bez: “Definitely heart.”

Maro: “In the end it’s always the head that you need while racing. Scientifically the heart doesn’t do anything. It’s always the brain.”

There’s plenty of heart and brains in the Mooney VR46 Racing Team garage. (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/)

What do you think about on the grid?

Bez: “It’s a headful of thoughts and empty at the same time. It’s a space beyond time.”

Maro: “I try to visualize, the start, the first lap, how to gain as many positions as possible.”

Have you ever been afraid of racing?

Bez: “Never.”

Maro: “Never.”

Have you ever thought of giving up and changing your profession?

Bez: “Never. Not even when I had tough races and difficult years.”

Maro: “Never.”

What is the bike for you?

Bez: “Everything.”

Maro:  “It is many things. First of all, it should be fun, but it is not always like that.”

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