Enea Bastianini came close to the podium in the Sprint race of the MotoGP Austrian GP. After starting from seventh and losing several positions at Turn 2 due to an error, the Ducati rider had to fight his way back, finishing in fourth, just over two seconds away from the top three.
The Italian admitted that his aggressive approach to Turn 2 cost him several positions: ‘My start was good and I was full of energy. I arrived to turn 2 very aggressive and also with the slipstream has been difficult to stop the bike. And after that I lost a little bit the rear, I went wide and I lost a lot of positions. It’s like this’.
When asked if this is part of the learning process – to be more aggressive in the early stages of the race – Bastianini agreed but recognized that he will need to take a different approach in the main race: ‘Yes, it can be also part of the learning proccess. But in the main race I need to do something different. Well, I’m happy about the race, because I improved compared to Saturday’s morning and also Friday. I returned to my base set-up, because I tried a lot of solutions, but nothing was the correct direction. And at the end the race was above my expectations, without a lot of mistakes – only in the first lap at turn 2. But for the rest it was okay. […]. I’m confident to do another great race in the long race’.
Regarding how he managed the front tire pressure in a race where he had to recover from mid-pack, the #23 explained: ‘Especially in this track it can be a problem, but I tried to don’t stay closer to other rider, I was always out of the slipstream on the straight, and in a race like this, this is the key. But it’s also better if you are alone like Pecco [Bagnaia]. If you are behind, you have to think about it’.
When asked about what he can improve based on Bagnaia’s data, Bastianini stated: ‘I always have more front lock than Pecco, and in this track more than in other tracks, because we have to brake a lot. I modified a little bit the set-up for this, to don’t lock the front. I think compared Pecco, the most difficult is the braking point; compared to Jorge [Martín] is the Sector 3, he’s very fast on the two left corners. I have to try to have a compromise. On Saturday I was without a lot of front lock and let’s see if for Sunday I can do a step in that direction’.