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It was a Saturday at Le Mans as a real fighter for Enea Bastianini, who on the sprint finish just missed the podium blown by Vinales. In qualifying, Enea had to go through Q1, an obstacle that the Rimini native crossed without any problems, then a yellow flag and an error of judgment relegated him tenth on the grid at the end of Q2. Filed the qualification under expectations then, for him who had one of the fastest passes it was a Sprint in recovery. A fight in which the Ducati standard bearer racked up a series of overtakes that brought him within a step of the podium. A very positive performance overall then, which brings Bastianini now second in the championship standings at 28 points from the Spaniard Jorge Martin, today absolute ruler in the Sprint on French soil.
A good race marred perhaps by the qualifying in which, however, there was some problem, you stopped.
"Yes, unfortunately I took the yellow flag and then ran out of gas - explains Enea - it was a pity because the race pace was good. The good thing is that today in the race I was able to make several overtakes, it means that we improved in that aspect. In the bad good in short."
One of the key factors today was keeping the pressure on the front at bay.
"When you are behind someone clearly it is difficult, however fortunately I overtook quickly and being in front you can keep a higher pace. We lapped well, I got on Maverick in the last laps but he also started to push hard and overtaking him became difficult. Overall I am satisfied with the race but the qualifying held us back a lot."
How much did you believe in the possibility of getting on the podium?
"I believed it because Maverick was always going long at 8, so I hoped he would continue in the mistake and instead he managed to patch it up. He had a great pace, I was eating up two tenths a lap, but it wasn't enough today."
What expectations do you set for tomorrow's race?
"The race is longer so we will see, but today Marc showed that even starting behind with a good start you can do well. Today I was not able to make a great start, let's say we can still be happy but these mistakes, too many mistakes, are sorry."
Tomorrow the weather could be an unknown factor that will make a difference.
"For sure it could change all the cards on the table, but I, like everyone else, hope to race in the dry. In case I have to adapt and things would get interesting."
Despite the near podium, you are second in the standings, accumulating points like ants.
"I could steal Marc's logo - jokes the Rimini man - we are all very close, apart from Jorge who has a 28-point lead. We've always been competitive since the beginning of the season and maybe that's the most important thing."
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