Marco Bezzecchi has explained why he carried a wooden leg on his bike while celebrating his victory in the San Marino Grand Prix sprint race at Misano.
The factory Aprilia rider caught everyone’s attention when he grabbed what appeared to be a prosthetic leg – complete with a racing boot – on the cooldown lap following his victory in Saturday’s half-distance race.
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While MotoGP riders usually wave their country or manufacturer’s flags in celebration, Bezzecchi’s choice of prop sparked intrigue among fans.
Speaking afterwards, the Italian revealed that the wooden leg featured in one of his favourite childhood films, while he also commissioned the artist from the movie to design his helmet for Misano.
“This is a wooden leg. Something that is present in an Italian film has the name ‘Tre uomini e una gamba’, which means three men and one leg,” he told TNT Sports.
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“It’s an Italian film and they bring this leg all over Italy to try to go to a wedding. It’s super funny and it’s part of my childhood.
“And the artist of the leg is Garbett. So I decided to make a good helmet, and the artist is Garbett.”
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Bezzecchi led the first part of the race from pole position, but two errors in quick succession allowed the factory Ducati of Marc Marquez to snatch the top spot from him on lap six.
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However, just a few corners later, the championship leader crashed his Ducati and retired from the race, handing the lead back to the home favourite.
Bezzecchi then held off the Gresini Ducati of Alex Marquez in the final laps to claim his second career sprint win, as well as the first for Aprilia since Barcelona last year.
“I didn’t really expect [Marquez to pass me at Turn 6] but I knew he would be close to it because I made a couple of mistakes, once in turn 13 when I lost the front, and then I went a bit wide in Turn 4,” he said.
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“I lost concentration a bit and I prepared Turn 6 to exit fast in the back straight because I thought Marc wanted to pass me on the braking, but then he passed me there [at Turn 6].
“I wasn’t really expecting that but then when he passed me I kept myself calm and I was there. I didn’t know how [the race] could go, but it went like this.”
He added: “I am just happy for the win. It means that we worked in a good this weekend until now, and that we can also do a good job tomorrow. So happy for the day and the focus is on Sunday.”
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Photos from San Marino GP – Qualifying & SprintMarco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3
Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3
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Lando Norris, Mclaren
Lando Norris, Mclaren
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Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
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Jack Miller, Pramac Racing
Jack Miller, Pramac Racing
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Luca Marini, Honda HRC
Luca Marini, Honda HRC
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Giacomo Agostini, Kevin Schwantz
Giacomo Agostini, Kevin Schwantz
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Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing
Alex Rins, Yamaha Factory Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3
Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Jack Miller, Pramac Racing
Jack Miller, Pramac Racing
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Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
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Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Danilo Di Giovanni / Getty Images
The fans watch from the hillsides during Qualifying ahead of the MotoGP of San Marino.
The fans watch from the hillsides during Qualifying ahead of the MotoGP of San Marino.
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A crashed Factory Racing Aprilia is pushed back to the paddock.
A crashed Factory Racing Aprilia is pushed back to the paddock.
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
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Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Racing
Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Racing
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Danilo Di Giovanni / Getty Images
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
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Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
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Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Singer Luis Fonsi
Singer Luis Fonsi
Danilo Di Giovanni / Getty Images
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Start action
Start action
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
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Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Franco Morbidelli, VR46 Racing Team
Franco Morbidelli, VR46 Racing Team
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Valentino Rossi, Lando Norris
Valentino Rossi, Lando Norris
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Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Danilo Di Giovanni / Getty Images
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Racing
Fermin Aldeguer, Gresini Racing
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team
Jorge Martin, Aprilia Racing Team
Roberto Tommasini / NurPhoto via Getty Images
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team crash
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team crash
Danilo Di Giovanni / Getty Images
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team crash
Marc Marquez, Ducati Team crash
Danilo Di Giovanni / Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
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Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team, Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing, Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
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Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Marco Bezzecchi, Aprilia Racing
Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images
Read Also:
Marc Marquez crashed in the “easiest part” of San Marino MotoGP sprint
MotoGP San Marino GP: Marco Bezzecchi wins sprint race after Marc Marquez crashes
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