MotoGP | Bastianini: “The soft worried me, but I hope it’s the tyre of the race”

Starting the weekend on the right foot is always the key to winning (or almost). Friday is becoming increasingly important for the success of a race weekend and Enea Bastianini knows something about it, who has always had the flying lap as his worry. In Misano, however, the story seems different and the Ducati rider has gained direct access to Q2 already on Friday, so it seems that everything is already easier.

Nothing to do with Friday a week ago, where he seemed unable to find the right balance, so much so that he found himself in the backup positions. On his home track, however, we found a pushy Bastianini, who took fifth place just under four tenths from the leader Bagnaia: “Being already in Q2 certainly makes me more relaxed. In Aragon I was a bit more nervous because having to go through Q1 is always an unknown and in fact we didn’t even get to Q2 on Saturday”.

“Being in Q2 directly changes a lot of things, but we mustn’t get too comfortable. Front row? I think so, apart from a few small mistakes I made in the time attack where I could have been faster, we’re still there. So it’s a matter of a little, tomorrow we’ll definitely be in the low 30s, so we’ll be doing different times. We need to take another step, but I think we can be there. Should the others be worried? I hope so! The fact that the confidence up front is good has certainly helped. On the other hand, I didn’t feel good behind, which doesn’t happen to me often. So we need to try to understand this, but we have room to do even better,” explained Bastianini, who however remains with his feet on the ground.

It all seems easy from the outside, but the reality is very different. To get to Q2 directly, Beast he had to work hard and try different solutions, especially in terms of tyres. The Romagnola is comfortable with the soft and hopes that it can be the right mix for Sunday’s race, not just for the Sprint: “I didn’t feel great either this morning or this afternoon, especially with the medium rear. I struggled a lot, I never had any grip at the back. Before putting the soft I was a bit worried, then when we put it on everything changed. A lot of things have changed, references, braking have changed”.

“There was more speed and it seems to work for a long time, because if you look at the pace of the riders who started with the soft, they were fast even in the last laps and improved. I don’t know if it could be the race tyre, I hope so because I really didn’t get along with the medium. At this point it’s not just about setup, but about tyres. I’d like to understand if you can also do the long race with the soft tyre, but go figure. Can the lower temperatures help? It’s not certain, maybe it’s the opposite. There are many variables, but in any case we have to make a step with the medium”, said the Ducati rider.