Enea Bastianini leaves Le Mans with a bitter taste in his mouth, because with the speed he demonstrated he could have achieved more. She had the pace of the leaders, but starting from the tenth spot on the grid wasn’t ideal. You obtained two fourth places, therefore results not to be thrown away, but both Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez finished ahead of you. At the moment there seems little chance of remaining in the Ducati factory team, obviously his manager Carlo Pernat has been working on alternatives for some time.
MotoGP Le Mans, Bastianini’s regret
The Rimini native is a bit disappointed at the end of this weekend in France: “I can’t be happy – admits to Sky Sport MotoGP – because I could do so much more. I’m a bit disappointed, we certainly didn’t lack speed, but we missed something. Then that damned long lap… And that’s how it went“.
Bastianini also had to serve a penalty (long lap penalty) for cutting turn 9 after an unsuccessful overtaking attempt on Aleix Espargaro. This is his comment on the episode: “I wanted to pass, I was in a hurry. I saw that those in front were starting to push a little more and I thought it was the right time to attack, I didn’t study Aleix’s moves too much and I went inside. The problem is that I struggle to slow down the bike straight on and I went a bit long. Then I turned to see where he was and give him back his position, but I saw that he wasn’t there because he went long. I didn’t think they would give me the penalty“.
Aeneas and the future
Gigi Dall’Igna, Ducati general manager, also arrived during the live broadcast, to whom he addressed the following thoughts: “He’s doing a great job, there were all Ducatis in front. The one who won is, in quotes, my direct rival this year. He pulls his backside a bit, but oh well…“.
Dall’Igna responded by commenting on Bastianini’s performance and also making a joke about the complicated decision he will have to make for the factory team: “He finished fourth, but it’s not all his fault. I know it well. We will certainly take this into account, the times he set are very important, especially at the end of the race. The choice of drivers for 2025 will be difficult, they are all doing well, but it will have to be done…“
When is it difficult to run with media pressure and uncertainties about the future? This is the response of the pilot from Romagna: “It’s not easy, but it’s putting us in a lot of competition. We’re all going strong, it’s the right pressure and it’s not hurting that bad. The races are almost always between Ducati riders“.
Photo: Adrien Poupeau
