The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was one of contrasting emotions for the Ducati Lenovo Team: on one hand, there is success with Enea Bastianini, who scored and exciting last-lap win, while on the flip side Francesco Bagnaia’s performance came to an early end as he crashed out of third place with seven laps remaining.
Bastianini had a good start from the front row of the grid as he kept himself in third despite a coming together with Binder. The Ducati rider #23 showed an excellent pace already in the early stages as he overtook his teammate during lap five with the goal of not losing touch with the then-leader Martín. Enea did a good job in bridging the small gap to his rival and, after being on his tail for several laps, the winning move came on the final lap at turn four, with Bastianini then making his way to race victory in front of his home crowd.
Bagnaia’s start from pole position was a good one as he moved into the lead in the direction change following turn one. The reigning world champion, despite his solid pace, showed some signs of struggle with the rear-end of his bike, and was eventually overtaken first by Martín on lap four and then by his teammate in the following one. After losing ground from his opponents, Pecco tried to up his game as he twice set the fastest lap of the race, but a crash with seven laps left deprived him of a podium that appeared within reach.
As the fourteenth Grand Prix of the season draws to a close, Bagnaia sits second in the championship standings with a 24-point gap from Martín. Bastianini is third, 59 points in arrears. Ducati reaches 500 points and seals the manufacturers’ title, while the Ducati Lenovo Team still leading the team standings (599 points).
The Ducati Lenovo team will be back in action this Friday for the Indonesian Grand Prix at the Mandalika Circuit.
Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“This victory is a great achievement, because we built up to a crescendo this weekend. Yesterday we were missing something to battle for the win, but we worked until late in order to put all the pieces together and to find a solution ahead of today’s race, and it worked. Jorge (Martín) was extremely fast throughout the race and there was a moment in which I wasn’t sure if I could have stayed with him, as I started experiencing a bit of vibration at the rear-end. As the laps went by, however, I tried to understand how to minimise the issue. In the final laps, something extra obviously comes out that enables you to battle for the win. In the end, I made my move: when I dove in, Jorge tried to close the door and that forced me to lean a bit, which led to the front-end locking. I tried to rely on the rear as much as I could, while making sure I could make the turn, and it worked.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – DNF
“Today simply went the way it did. I was already having some issues with the front locking since the start of the race so even when the rear tyre started to perform with 15 laps in and set the fastest lap of the race two times in a row, I still tried to be as careful as possible, especially under braking. Then, I lost the front as hit the brakes, despite being still in an upright position. It was a strange day no doubt, but we’ll be ready next time.”
Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“The manufacturers’ title is a very important result, obviously on top of the win number 100 for Ducati in MotoGP. We are very proud with these milestones. The race was, as if often happens, a very intense and spectacular one. I’m very happy with Enea’s win as he did a great job with the team in order to find that something extra that put him in the position to battle for the win, especially with such a fierce opponent as Jorge, who’s always incredibly quick. A pity for Pecco, who was having a great race and really wanted to do well, but this is racing. We’ll try to understand what happened and how to improve ahead of the long, flyaway trip.”
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