Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team finished second in today’s sprint race at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ – the thirteenth of the season. Enea Bastianini crossed the finish line in fourth place after battling for third in the closing stages of the encounter.
After taking pole position and setting the new outright lap record for the Misano track in 1:30.304secs during Q2, Bagnaia did not manage to keep the lead at the start, but still managed to stay within reach of Martín’s lead. In the final laps, Bagnaia could not keep his opponent’s pace due to a drop of grip at the front-end as he lost ground but still defended second place well up to the chequered flag.
Bastianini had an excellent start from the third row of the grid as he entered turn one in fifth place. After struggling to overtake Binder in the early laps, with clear track ahead Enea managed to make the most of his strong race pace as – lap after lap – he bridged the gap with the frontrunners. On the final lap, the rider #23 tried an overtaking manoeuvre on Morbidelli at turn eight but ran wide, losing the chance for a podium finish.
The 27-lap, Sunday race for the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix will get underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time.
Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“I tried to stay in the battle for the win but already from lap four I started struggling with a lack of grip at the front-end, and towards the end it got worse. I almost tucked the front at turn 13 and at Misano 1 and front then on I focused on bringing the bike home, especially in light of the margin I had on Franco (Morbidelli). It’s a pity, because this situation was created at the very beginning as I couldn’t get the best start. We still did our best and after Aragón, it was important to do a good race. We lost three points, but the most important race is tomorrow.”
Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 4th
“The race went quite well, but unfortunately qualifying not as much as I wasn’t fully comfortable with the front end, and I struggled a bit especially with the second tyre. I was very competitive in the final laps of the race, and I managed to close the gap on the leading group, but unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to study and plan the move on Franco (Morbidelli) and therefore I couldn’t find his weak points. I tried anyway at the ‘Quercia’ corner but went wide. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.”
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