Mathematics still doesn’t rule him out, but 75 points to recover with five weekends to go seems like a truly insurmountable obstacle for Enea Bastianini. Mandalika’s fall seems to have definitively dashed the Ducati rider’s world championship hopes, but he will at least try to continue to gain some personal satisfaction in this final part of the season, perhaps also trying to act as a balance needle.
Upon his arrival in Motegi, where the Japanese Grand Prix will be held this weekend, the last round of the first hat-trick of this 2024 MotoGP, his analysis started precisely from the mistake made last Sunday in Indonesia. Which in any case he doesn’t seem to regret, at least in terms of attitude.
“I risked a lot in Mandalika, because the first part of the race was below my expectations. Then I managed to improve my pace and my feeling with the bike was also incredible, so I thought I could fight for the victory. Probably the gap to the first two was already too big, but I took this risk and for me it was important to try to win. In the end I crashed, but it’s part of the game. In the next races I will have to try to be competitive and score as many points as possible , but I don’t know what my approach will be yet, I will evaluate it before the race”, said Bastianini.
Then he spent a bit analyzing his moment, explaining that he has now found a confidence and feeling that he didn’t have at the beginning of the year, but admitting that 75 points really risk being too many.
“In the first part of the season it was important for me to regain confidence with both the bike and the team, because 2023 had been a disaster. In those first races I wasn’t very fast, but I was consistent. Now I feel more competitive everywhere, on the podium or always close to the podium. Jorge and Pecco probably made more mistakes, but Jorge also has 75 points more than me, so at the moment I think I’m a bit out of the title fight, but if there is a chance of try to close this gap, I want to be ready.”
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Photo credit: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Reality says this, but the dream must remain alive, at least until mathematics allows it: “I believe in it until mathematics says it is possible, of course. It is not realistic, it is difficult. We are talking about a very high percentage small regarding the possibility that I can fight for the title again, realistically speaking. We can dream about it, but if we want to be realistic, I can challenge for third position.”
With a World Championship still very open between Martin and Pecco Bagnaia, separated from each other by 21 points, there is however the possibility of acting as a “referee”: “I don’t know. It’s true that I’m fast and we’ll probably annoy both I and Marquez. There’s also Acosta who’s doing very well. So yes, we can cause trouble in the title fight, but it’s more difficult to get into it, however, I’m still playing for something and I want to continue doing so without thinking about anything else.” .
When he was then asked who he believes is stronger between the two candidates for the title, the Rimini native replied straight away, without thinking too much: “The numbers say Pecco, because at the moment he has won more World Cups and is used to winning. You know how to win a World Championship in MotoGP”.
Finally, he was also asked what his expectations are for the Motegi weekend, where 12 months ago he had not raced due to injury: “I missed last year’s race, but I think it’s a good track both for me and for the Ducati. It will be important to learn something from the other Ducati riders in the first session to be ready when the time comes to be fast in the second session. But this is one of my favorite circuits, because I like strong braking, so I will be competitive.”
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