Reigning world champion Bagnaia has bled points since the Catalan Grand Prix, having started that race with a 66-point lead over Pramac’s Martin.
But a crash on lap one of the Catalan GP, which compromised his physical condition for the San Marino GP, and then another Sunday crash in India, has allowed Martin to close the gap to 13 points coming to this weekend’s Japanese GP.
A dominant third grand prix victory of the 2023 season for Bezzecchi in India means he is only 44 points adrift of Bagnaia with seven rounds remaining.
But for the time being, he does not consider himself a true championship challenger.
“Well, I am relaxed because at the moment the real fight is between them,” Bezzecchi said on Thursday at Motegi, referring to Martin and Bagnaia.
“I’m just running close to them, but never close enough.
“Of course, if I can be close until the end I will try my best to fight for it. This is normal. I would lie if I said ‘no [I wouldn’t]’.
“But at the moment I just want to enjoy weekend by weekend, try to stay close at least for three, four weekends more and then we will see.”
Source: Autosport