MotoGP | Bagnaia: “It’s positive to race straight away to leave Misano behind”

Less than seven days after the Emilia-Romagna GP, which saw Enea Bastianini take Ducati’s hundredth MotoGP victory and the Bologna-based manufacturer secure its sixth Manufacturers’ World Championship title, the Ducati Lenovo Team is already in Indonesia to tackle the fifteenth round of the 2024 season this weekend.

Located in the south of the Indonesian archipelago, the Mandalika Street Circuit will host the MotoGP for the third time and, on the last occasion, it was the rider of the Bologna team Francesco Bagnaia who triumphed. In last year’s Indonesian GP, ​​the twenty-seven-year-old from Turin managed to secure a fantastic comeback victory from thirteenth place on the grid. Coming off a fall last week in Misano, the reigning World Champion aims to redeem himself and close the gap in the general standings, which currently sees him second, 24 points behind current leader Jorge Martín (Pramac Racing).

“Coming back to racing this weekend is definitely positive: it allows us to leave Misano behind us once and for all to focus exclusively on Mandalika. Racing here is always special because of the warmth and great passion that Indonesians have for our sport. It will certainly not be an easy weekend: here the weather is often unpredictable, temperatures are high and the track conditions are often not optimal, but we are still ready to face any condition. We will work hard to try to be fast right away”, said Bagnaia.

Teammate Enea Bastianini, fresh winner of the last GP held last Sunday in Misano, arrives in Mandalika with the aim of continuing his positive trend. The rider from Rimini who has 8 podiums so far including 2 victories this season, currently occupies third place in the general standings.

“I’m really happy to be back racing in Indonesia. It’s a country where our sport is very popular and the fans are very passionate. Starting this intense period of racing with the victory in my home Grand Prix is ​​definitely something that gives me confidence and motivation, but I’m keeping my feet on the ground. Together with my team we are working well and the goals are to continue in this direction and to constantly fight for the top positions. In Mandalika the track conditions and the high temperatures will not make things easy, but we will do our best as always”, added Bastianini.