MotoGP | Bastianini: “he wanted it, I hadn't seen him in front for a while”

Enea Bastianini laughs heartily, because the best time on the first day of testing for the Portuguese Grand Prix is ​​a bit like a full circle for the Ducati rider. 12 months ago, his ordeal began in Portimao: in a fall on the first lap of the first Sprint of the year he suffered a fractured shoulder blade. An injury that tormented him for longer than expected, immediately making his first year as an official rider for the Borgo Panigale manufacturer difficult.

Being in front of everyone right on the ups and downs of the Algarve, therefore, must have a special flavor for the Rimini native, who did nothing to hide it when he met the journalists at the end of the day: “It's obvious that it gives me energy. wanted, it's been a while since I've seen myself in front in a free practice session. It was nice and then it happened on a track where I've struggled to be competitive in the past. But it's only Friday and, especially in MotoGP, you don't have to never let your guard down, even if we had a good Friday.”

There is still something missing in terms of race pace, but in the afternoon session, the only one held with the track in acceptable conditions, he managed to make some changes that made his Desmosedici GP24 more competitive.

“It was a good Friday, even if it started a bit so-so because the track was very dirty, so I tried not to push too much during FP1. At the beginning of the second session we had some problems, but we improved with “evolution of the track. We made some changes to the set-up and engine braking and the whole package improved. We did a good time attack, which gives me hope, even if the pace could be done a bit better”, he explained Aeneas.

As mentioned, the conditions were far from good in FP1, when the drivers had to deal with a very dirty track due to the mixed rain and sand that fell during the night: “The conditions were almost unacceptable. It was really very dangerous, but if we hadn't turned the track it would have remained like this. In practice we acted as street cleaners, but it was right to turn, even if the conditions were a bit at the limit.”

For this reason, further evolution of the track is expected tomorrow, which however according to “Beast” should not change the values ​​too much: “I don't think we will see any upheavals, even if a little something could change. At the moment Marquez seems to me to be the one who has a little more, especially because he was very fast in terms of pace and he demonstrated it during the two rounds”, he concluded.