Indonesia has a particular flavour, special for Enea Bastianini, who finally managed to get back on his Ducati, competing in a Sprint in which he felt at ease after a 2023 season characterized by two injuries that kept him long distance of the races. The official driver finished the 13 laps on Saturday in seventh position, an important result if you consider the physical conditions that blocked him for most of the year.
Furthermore, Bastianini, in Q1 together with teammate Pecco Bagnaia, managed to gain access to Q2 at the end in qualifying, displacing the reigning world champion. In the Sprint, the two mentioned a brief duel, only to then cross the finish line with the Romagna rider ahead of the driver from Chivasso.
“I think I did a good job this morning. Lap after lap we managed to improve and in qualifying we made a step that allowed us to go to Q2. I didn’t really do a great lap there and so I started in 11th position”, explains Bastianini at the end of Saturday, referring to qualifying.
However, he is satisfied with the race put in place, in which he showed greater confidence astride the GP23: “I think I had a good race, it was also good in physical terms. Maybe it was a little tough, but I’m aware that tomorrow will be worse. We’ll see what to do, in the meantime I’ll enjoy today. I went back to a standard setting, I just made a few adjustments with the electronics. I think that was the key to being fast today.”
Enea Bastianini, Ducati Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
“I think that in Barcelona I had found a good base”, he continues, referring to the progress shown. “I didn’t change anything, I just tried to put together some laps on the track. Little by little, some interesting times arrived and then there was the Q2. Today I can go to sleep more peacefully, I must say that this was the first time this year that I had fun.”
The optimism that can be seen on Enea’s face also concerns his physical fitness: “On a scale of 1 to 10, I would say that the pain I felt was 1. In some bends I felt pain, but not in all. I don’t have a lot of strength and after seven laps I started to feel a little tired. There are 27 laps to do tomorrow and it could be a problem, but I will prepare to do my best.”
The thrill of the Sprint was crazy for the Ducati garage, which saw the two teammates fighting, with Bagnaia “surrendering” and remaining behind Bastianini at the checkered flag. There was speculation about team orders not being respected or agreements, but Enea glosses over: “I didn’t see Pecco behind me, I just thought about finding my rhythm and enjoying the race. I was away from the track for a long time, I just wanted to have fun and I didn’t have time to think about everything.”
With today’s victory, Jorge Martin is the new leader of the championship and now has a 7 point advantage over Bagnaia. With five weekends left (six if we consider tomorrow’s race) until the end of the season, the time has come to do the math and understand which strategy to implement. Will Ducati ask Bastianini to help Pecco in the world championship confirmation? Enea is very clear: “I don’t know. Surely, if Pecco and Jorge will compete for the world championship until the end, it is normal for the team to ask me something. I think it’s actually normal. But it’s not something I want to think about right now, I just want to try to do my best and be myself again.”
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