The Ducati Lenovo Team has completed the San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix in a positive way at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ , with Francesco Bagnaia second at the chequered flag and his teammate Enea Bastianini third, in what was a 27-lap race full of surprises and turn of events.
Bagnaia had a good start from pole position as he stayed on top of proceedings entering turn one. The reining world champion managed well the small margin on Martín and decided to stay out of track with twenty laps to go despite a sudden but short downpour. With mixed conditions, Bagnaia was overtaken by Marc Márquez but managed to stay on the rival’s tail in the central part of the encounter. During the final laps, Pecco gradually lost ground from the lead, but still secured a very important second place for the title race.
Bastianini did a good job on the opening lap as he moved up two positions and was already running fourth during lap three. With the arrival of the rain, Bastianini made the most of the opportunity to narrow the gap down to the frontrunners before riding a lonely third with a 1.4secs gap to his teammate. In the latter stages of the encounter, the Ducati rider #23 struggled with a lack of grip that prevented him from keeping the strong pace, with the Rimini-born rider successfully defending his third position up to the chequered flag.
With the thirteenth Grand Prix of the season drawing to a close, Bagnaia is still second in the championship standings albeit now with a much-reduced, 7-point gap from Martín. Enea Bastianini sits fourth, 62 points in arrears. Ducati holds a solid lead in the manufacturers’ standings (463), with the Ducati Lenovo Team still atop the team standings (555 points).
The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back in action at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ in a fortnight’s time for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.
Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd
“In hindsight, a second place under these conditions was the best result we could have aimed at. Once the rain started falling, I saw Franco (Morbidelli) crashing out and I chose to ride in a bit of a safer way, while Marc (Márquez) ended up being the stronger and braver of us all. I did all I could to stay with him and had a shot at the lead on a couple of occasions at the ‘Curvone’ corner, but I was never incisive enough to make it happen. In the final laps, I saw that Enea’s gap went up to more than three seconds and in that moment, I lost some of the concentration, also due to the fact that my fitness condition wasn’t ideal. We did our best, unlike yesterday, so I’m happy.
Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 3rd
“It was quite a strange and unexpected type of race to some degree, but still a fun one. I wasn’t fully confident at the start of the race as I had some stomach issue in the morning, but I made sure it didn’t affect me mentally. Once the rain came and saw Franco’s crash, I thought about pushing without overdoing. The temptation of getting back to the pits for the bike swap was there, but luckily enough I chose to stay out on track. Towards the end, with the soft rear-tyre, I felt the drop of grip, but I’m still happy that I was able to finish on the podium in front of my home crowd and I’d like to thank the team and the fans for all the support they gave me.”
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