MotoGP | Bastianini: “I missed the podium because I was too ambitious”

The podium of the Misano Sprint was there, within reach, but Enea Bastianini was probably too greedy. After a negative qualifying, ending with only the seventh time, the Ducati rider showed off a good start and immediately moved into fifth position. Unfortunately, however, it took him a few laps to get rid of Brad Binder’s KTM and, once he succeeded, he found himself with a gap of about a second and a half to fill compared to the other Desmosedici GP of a revived Franco Morbidelli.

In the final, the rider from Rimini managed to catch up with his compatriot from Prima Pramac Racing, but he was a bit hasty in launching an attack on Quercia, ending up long and allowing his rival to cross, who therefore had the opportunity to return to the podium after more than three years of abstinence. Once he arrived in the press room, “Bestia” admitted that he was in a hurry in the hope of being able to catch up with Pecco Bagnaia, who suffered a decline in the final.

“I can’t be angry, even if it would have been nice to get on the podium today too. Maybe I was a little too ambitious in wanting to pass straight away without having studied Morbidelli at all, but I wanted to try to attack Pecco too, even if I was a little far away. Probably, if I went back, I wouldn’t try to make that overtaking there anymore and I would do it somewhere else,” Bastianini said.

The laps behind Binder unfortunately ended up ruining his good start a bit: “Brad really drives in a strange way, so I really lost a lot of time and I even risked hitting him at Quercia. I struggled those laps I was with him, but then once I overtook him I managed to get away from him”.

Complicating things at the base was a Q2 that was a little below expectations: “Qualifying was complicated for me again today. In the second time attack I suffered quite a bit with the front tyre, because the rear was pushing too hard, so it was impossible for me to do better than in the first run”.

For the long race, Enea could have a good wild card to play, because he seems quite confident that he can try to race again with the soft tyre on the rear, while the competition could be directed to switch to the medium.

“We need to evaluate it better. I think the engineers will definitely help me make the right decision, but the reality is that I’m using it less than the others, so I think I can do it. But let’s see. If the temperature drops, it could become more problematic, but I think it will be hot even if it’s cloudy tomorrow. I have more feeling with the soft here and instead with the medium I can’t get too much, so I hope to be able to use it.”

It will be essential to repeat a start at least like today’s, because on this track having clean air on the front tyre is a really fundamental aspect: “As always, those who are in front are the ones who struggle the least. For example, when I passed Binder I immediately went faster and lowered my T1 by three tenths. I think it’s important to start well and stay calm. It’s obvious that it will be difficult for me to find myself in front from the third row, but never say never”.

With today’s fourth place, if nothing else, he has evened the score in the World Championship with Marc Marquez, with whom he tied in third place. The one for the lowest step of the world championship podium, as well as the one for the title between winner Jorge Martin and Bagnaia, also seems like it could be a heated battle: “We know that Marc is always very fast, so I think it will be a great fight”.