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A wounded Beast, it is known, is at its most dangerous when it unleashes its survival instincts. It's understandable that the recent run of bad luck, the last one yesterday in the sprint, and the words spent in recent weeks on the choice of Bagnaia's teammate, could have weighed on the Rimini rider, who had already accumulated his fair share of bad luck (just think of the 2023 season). Mugello was the right opportunity to get back to showing his claws, and Enea Bastianini needed to prove primarily to himself that he still knew how to bite. An opportunity he took with the two passes in the last laps that gave him the second step of the podium. The first in response to Marc Marquez, "When he overtook me I closed my eyes for a moment" he will later admit to reporters, the second on Martin at the last corner, "it was not in the plans" he will later say. He dedicated the podium to his own dog who passed away last week, whom he remembered today by representing him happily on his helmet.
It was a close race, especially in the last laps, against both Marc Marquez and Martin.
"I thought it was a boring race," Enea joked, "it was difficult to do more today. Trying to do more would have increased the risk of making mistakes, here if you miss one corner you miss the whole track. I am very happy, it was important for me to get a result after a difficult period, we were not very lucky in this first half of the season. When Marc passed me I closed my eyes for a moment, I found myself, I started to push again and the bike responded well. I tried to respond and in the end I succeeded. When I caught up to Martin it wasn't that close, I also made some small mistakes, but I thought I would try anyway and in the last corner, I had more speed on the run and it went well. It's a result that is good not only for myself but also for the team, my bike was really performing today, it was nice to do it especially here at Mugello."
Of that 1'46.2 on the last lap, even your rivals on the podium were surprised.
"I was in a special phase, I wasn't afraid of crashing, it was like I was dancing with the bike. Until half the lap catching up to Martin was not in the plan, then I realized it was doable."
Which of the two overtakes was the best?
"The one on me for sure! - interjected Martin with irony - Yes, the one on Jorge, because it handed me second place - Enea jokingly echoed him - because on the last lap I was 8 tenths behind and it wasn't so obvious that I could do it, he had a big lead but I did a really fast lap and that allowed me to take him on the last corner. It's clear that overtaking Marc also gave me a lot of satisfaction."
Do you think that with a better start you could have caught up with your teammate as well?
"Pecco was very fast today, but as always if you push too hard to the limit you risk making mistakes and losing time. Today we also had a bit of a problem with the front tire pressure, although as has often been the case in the last part of the race I can have a bit extra, even I can't explain it sometimes. Maybe it would have been possible who knows."
A result that silences those who were already writing you off in the transfer market?
"In these moments you have to be strong, it is not easy to always manage everything at 100 percent, I made mistakes as did the team, the important thing is to come out with our heads held high as we did today, what the future holds for me matters little to me right now."
What mistakes are you referring to?
"I don't think it's fair to underline these things, those who are paying attention will have seen them. Maybe we could have achieved more, but we also had bad luck, you have to tell it like it is."
This result of the GP24s here at Mugello put the emphasis on the difference with the GP23s.
"I remember that even last year there was a lot of talk about this difference between the two bikes, but this year they are really very similar. I think the GP23 can win again in the future, but the level in MotoGP this year has risen again."
Now the outlook on your future in MotoGP might change?
"Future, future, future...I prefer to think about the present. The future has been talked about a lot these days, I want to enjoy the present and this day because I come from a difficult period. I made mistakes, as did the team, but today was a positive day. Normally I'm not happy to finish second, but today I am."
