MotoGP | Dall'Igna: “Enea needed perseverance. She is finding it”

A comeback podium and a fifth place held on tooth and nail. This is the spoils brought home by the official Ducati team at the Grand Prix of the Americas at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Enea Bastianini scored his second podium of the season, thus climbing to second place in the Drivers' World Championship, 21 points behind leader and teammate Jorge Martin. This is a very important duel for the future, because the Spaniard would like to take the bike that is now in the hands of the Italian rider, while Enea wants not only to race towards confirmation, but also to try to have a chance to win the title .

At the end of the Austin weekend, the director of Ducati Corse, Gigi Dall'Igna, took stock of the progress of the Texan weekend of the team he manages, having however to take note of both the positive notes – Bastianini – and the less so good.

“It was a long and exciting race, lively and vibrant, on a very demanding track from a physical point of view. Many duels and many overtakings which saw us as protagonists in a race with no holds barred, marked by stretches of chiaroscuro, lights and shadows”.

“For Enea it is an important podium, which confirms him among the protagonists on the track, race after race, with a consistency that he is slowly rediscovering. His was the first Ducati under the checkered flag, with a crescendo finish after an uncertain start, which now places him in second place in the world championship. He needed more continuity and this is another fundamental step in the right direction.”

What is causing concern, at least in this period, is the state of form and amalgamation between Francesco Bagnaia and the Desmosedici GP24. The Piedmontese, two-time reigning world champion, is in a complicated moment after his first retirement of the season and the fifth place obtained in Austin.

“Pecco's race, however, was completely different: unlike Enea, he had a good start in the first third of the race, but then his pace faltered, therefore having to defend himself to secure a fifth place which he could not certainly satisfy him. Very meager haul between Sprint and GP, without a podium, and a weekend to let pass, thinking about the next challenge”.

“The championship is long and difficult, and there will be ups and downs for everyone. We must give our best to give our drivers the opportunity to express their best performances. This is why the next test with Michele (Pirro, ed.) in Barcelona will be of great importance: there we will test some changes to the bike's set-up, which will then be reconfirmed with the official riders during the tests scheduled for the day following the Jerez Grand Prix.”

“Congratulations to our opponents, fast and talented drivers: it will be a very open challenge for a world championship that promises to be even more exciting and interesting: and so it will be, until the last corner”, concluded the brilliant engineer from Veneto.