MotoGP | GP San Marino, Bastianini: “I tried to death!”
Just over 24 hours have passed since the incredible final of the Misano MotoGP race which saw Francesco Bagnaia ahead of Enea Bastianini by just 34 thousandths. In the paddock and on social networks The discussion about what Aeneas did during the race started. According to some, Enea had much more and he played as a team by not stealing points from his future teammate. Bastianini guarantees that “he wanted to win and that is always my goal”. A Claudio Domenicali instead they did not like the attack on the last lap which could have cost them both dearly: “the detached one could save it“.
A VERY FAST RACE
The MotoGP in recent years they are becoming faster and faster not only in terms of engines but also and above all of travel speed. Yesterday’s race in Misano is proof of this, on a track where the engine is not so important the improvement in just twelve months between the overall time of Pecco Bagnaia’s two victories of 5 ″. An improvement that is equivalent to 185 thousandths per lap on average less than in the 2021 race. When Fabio Quartararo said he was happy with his pace, he was aware that twelve months ago with the same race time he had finished in second position just a few thousandths from Bagnaia.
The race of Bagnaia and Bastianini was really tightthe two unleashed all their talent and came to compete for the victory on the finish line. Difficult to think, however, to be able to attack when you are driving so close to the limit. This is perhaps the limit of MotoGP today. The incredible speed with which the first manage to cover the race distance. It sounds absurd but think about it: Where do we normally see overtaking in a MotoGP race? In the positions behind the leading group. It is difficult for the first two to swap positions. This is due to the fact that the top of the class are at the very limit of their mechanical, technological and physical means. If Pecco and Enea replicated Jack Miller’s pole time in the race, how is it possible to imagine someone attacking you while you are about to sign pole position??
ENEA REALLY TRIED!
It is undeniable, when in the final laps the two took a margin on Maverick Vinales, many imagined that Enea would follow Bagnaia until the finish. However, this has never been in the mind of the Gresini Team rider, who explicitly asks “have you ever thought not to try because it was Pecco?“After the post-podium conference, he replied with a curt:”Never!“
Aeneas has then also explained the dynamics of the accident in curve 4 on the last lap: “Pecco braked quite slowly in my opinion because he wanted to take advantage of the exit more in my opinion than the exit. Instead, I braked hard because I wanted to stay close to him. To avoid contact I threw myself outside and tried to bring speed anyway but I lost time“.
STAY THE BITTER IN THE MOUTH
“Certainly a bit of the error at the four I carry it with me but there is, are the races“. There is bitterness in Aeneas’s words, proving that, contrary to what one might think he really tried. “I had a bit of a fog of wanting to win and that’s always my goal“. He then added commenting on the error of turn 4.
Between the due, however, the reports are excellent. The two after the usual post-race conference stopped with the Italian media and made the classic “media debrief” together with a few centimeters from each other exchanging compliments for the race.
TEAM PLAY? ONLY IF DOWN FROM THE PODIUM
In Ducati there is a “gentlemen agreeYou unveiling it was Johann Zarco on Friday: “Gigi told us that if we are fighting for the podium or for the victory everyone has to do their own race. He knows how important a podium or a win is for a driver. If instead we were fighting for P4, P5 or P6 it would be important to leave a Pecco more points“. Her words perhaps passed too quietly, in a weekend that she would have liked to have led to the cries of “biscotto” Bolognese.
From the”cookie” to the “ragù“, True Bolognese specialty, the step is short. Aeneas later denied who she believed than if there had been another driver instead of Pecco I would have tried to attack him at the last corner: “At 99.9% I would have gone to the ground. Unless I had played the world I wouldn’t have done it“. For those who believe that Bastianini has given up on a victory in MotoGPin his home Grand Prix, the Gresini driver expressed himself as follows: “I tried to death. Even after the long run, I never stopped believing in it. I knew it would be 99% impossible to attempt an attack, but the last two corners I mostly got very close and I had it there. The last corner I was undecided but I was still too far and I would have done a patatrac. So I preferred to try to practice acceleration and that’s not much“.
Mattia Cantarini