Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing

Only six riders gambled on Michelin’s soft front tyre, with three of those coming from Aprilia’s camp. While Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez felt choosing the white-walled compound was a mistake and turned his race into a “survival” contest, Bezzecchi stood by his tyre choice.

“For me, no [it wasn’t a mistake],” he said. “Of course, having this problem in the start [made things] a bit worse, because you cannot expect to stay behind more and more bikes and have the soft front that works perfectly.Without this problem, it could be better. I will never know. But if I have to start again, I will again put the soft front.”

Bezzecchi has been on a strong run of form in the final part of the campaign and is coming off the back of his victory at the Portuguese GP last weekend. The 27-year-old, who has now secured third in the riders’ standings, said he is confident about his prospects for Sunday’s grand prix despite the setback in the sprint.

“With the pole position, finishing the sprint like this doesn’t really make me feel super happy,” he said. “But the pace is there and the confidence is there. So let’s try to understand what happened now in the start, let’s try to analyse everything and be more ready for tomorrow.”