MotoGP | Bastianini, what a mistake with the holeshot: “Wasted opportunity”

The lowering device is now an integral part of the current MotoGP, so much so that it has become fundamental not only at the start, but throughout the race. However, it can still create some problems and Enea Bastianini knows this well, as today he saw a probable victory in the Sprint slip away precisely because of the starting device.

In fact, at the start, the Ducati rider was seen doing a noticeable wheelie with a GP24 that was decidedly higher than that of his teammate. The response came directly from Bastianini, who in the usual meeting with the media revealed that he had accidentally deactivated the front holeshot: “Unfortunately I deactivated the front device, because I was convinced that I had not activated it, so I made this mistake which unfortunately it compromised my race.”

“It's too strange to start without a lowering device, the bike rears up a lot, then the electronics are made for holeshot, so I also had to close the throttle. It was a bit of a wasted opportunity because I definitely could have done better. Let's say that with these bikes, if you are behind you have a much harder time getting back to the front. So you have to be so good and have so much more to make a difference,” continued Bastianini, visibly sorry for the mistake that didn't allow him to play.

However, if you look at the glass half full, tomorrow Bestia will have a new opportunity to try because he will start from first position. Pole position had been missing for 581 days for the Ducati rider, who on Saturday in Portimao returned to conquer a pole position, his first as an official Ducati rider: “The pace wasn't bad, even if I didn't ride well, because I was a a little nervous about the mistake he made. But I've seen places where I'm missing something and others where I can make a difference. So I think that for tomorrow we have clear ideas on what we need to work on.”

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The objective, therefore, is to be able to capitalize on the qualifying result: “Let's hope, even if with this bike we are very fast with the soft tire in the time attacks and less effective in the long distance, so we are trying to improve on this because it's true that we can play the match tomorrow, but we are not the favourites. It's difficult to say who is the favorite, but in my opinion Marc Marquez is the one who has something more on this track, at least from what I've seen. Tomorrow morning we will try to do something to close the gap and win the race.”

“I try to make the most of the grip at the rear, while usually I was looking for something on the front, but now I still don't have the right confidence to rely 100% on the front, so for now I'm happy with the rear,” concluded Bastianini.