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MotoGP: Neil Hodgson on Ducati v Aprilia after 'controlled' Marco Bezzecchi win at Grand Prix Thailand – ‘Beginning of the end?’
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Published 01/03/2026 at 11:16 GMT
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TNT Sports pundit Neil Hodgson was left thoroughly impressed by the race-winning efforts of Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi on Sunday at the season-opening Grand Prix Thailand. The Italian rider bounced back after Saturday's effort in the Sprint, where he crashed out on the first lap. Hodgson also noted the struggles of Ducati compared to the Aprilia team over the weekend.
Highlights: Bezzecchi wins opener in Thailand as Marquez brothers suffer disaster
Video credit: TNT Sports
Neil Hodgson praised Grand Prix Thailand winner Marco Bezzecchi as he "controlled it from the front" for the first full-length race of the season.
The Italian had been tipped by Hodgson, both as a contender for the 2026 world championship, and also for the action in Thailand.
He demonstrated his pace early on, and sat on pole for the Sprint - only to crash out early under pressure from Marc Marquez.
Marquez was then penalised for an aggressive overtaking attempt on Pedro Acosta, and had to cede his winning position to the younger Spaniard, who went on to claim victory in the first point-scoring opportunity of the new campaign.
When it came to Sunday’s race, however, his controlled start helped him retain the lead, and he was already building a significant advantage within the first lap, which provided him with the foundation to pull away and largely cruise to an impressive victory for the season-opener.
Speaking on TNT Sports after the conclusion of the race, Hodgson lauded the efforts from Bezzecchi to forget the mistakes of Saturday and produce a much calmer performance.
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'Changing of the guard' - Laverty hails Aprilia's dominance at Grand Prix Thailand
Video credit: TNT Sports
He said: "What a ride for this man, though. There was so much pressure at the start of the race. We talked about it, it was all about that clutch release. He controlled it from the front."
Bezzecchi also won the final two races that Marquez sat out last season after the shoulder injury he picked up at Grand Prix Indonesia in October 2025, the first time that an Aprilia rider has won three consecutive MotoGP races.
Hodgson reflected on a nascent battle between two manufacturers, Ducati and Aprilia, to win the title.
He said of Ducati: "Is it the beginning of the end? First time in 88 [races without a podium]. We started talking about it last year. It's feeling like it's starting to flip.
"We had the dominance for decades from Honda, and eventually they got toppled."
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Hodgson added: "They've been unlucky there with Marc. It was a fourth at worst, potentially it could have been third as they might have got [Raul] Fernandez. It's a long, long, long season. We finish in mid-November."
Fellow Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia was ninth, well down the pack.
In his column for TNT Sports, Hodgson had suggested that coming fifth in last year’s world championship was simply not good enough for the two-time MotoGP world champion, and he expected an improved performance from him, not just at Grand Prix Thailand but also for the season as a whole.
That gave Hodgson a greater pause for thought, as he observed: "For a factory Ducati rider to be 18 seconds off the winner, that is a chunk."
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