Bastianini: “I recovered well, I would have liked to win”

New podium and second place in the standings

The excellent form continues Enea Bastianini who in the COTA race, in Austin, grabbed one splendid third final position, proving to be the best of all the Ducati riders at the finish line and beating world championship leader Jorge Martin in a direct duel. Now the Beast is second in the championship, 21 points behind its brand mate, who is also its main rival for the seat of the official team in 2025.

“I set out to have a good first part of the race – commented Bastianini to Sky Sport MotoGP microphones, protagonist of a good comeback that began after the halfway point of the GP – but unfortunately, wanting to immediately take the lead compromised everything because I lost a few positions. Then I actually struggled with the front until I was in the slipstream of all the bikes in front, but the second part is always kind of my favorite pointthe one in which I can express myself 100%“.

Great comeback

“I recovered well and would have liked to win – confessed the #23 of Ducati – but we can be happy. On a physical level, this is one of the worst races of the year, if not the worst. I'm quite tired, Pedro was ill, so it wasn't easy for any of us. Maverick obviously had more, but I still held up well and I can be happy. We worked very well at the beginning of the year, we made the right changes and our base is good to be able to do well everywhere. What I still lack is a bit of explosivenessso I will try to fill it as soon as possible“.

“I struggle more than the others, especially in the Sprints – concluded Bastianini talking about his feeling on the GP24 – so let's see what the future holds. This year the engine and how the bike works during insertion has been revised a bit; now it helps me hold the brakes more, something I couldn't do with the 2023 bike. One of my strong points had therefore disappeared on this bike we are on the right track. We can still do a little bit, but the base works on all tracks: where we arrive we are fast and I'm happy with this“.