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The one at Silverstone was a magical weekend for Enea Bastianini, winner of both the Sprint and the Grand Prix. It was a Round that brought to mind the feats accomplished in 2022 by the Rimini rider, who hopes to continue in this vein until the end of the season.
"It would be nice to maintain these performances throughout the remaining part of the championship," he said in the press conference at the Red Bull Ring, " I am very happy because I won a Sprint for the first time, which is usually a race in which I am not one of the best. I tried to improve each time and learn something from the past. This is a good track for the Ducati, which I think will be the best bike here, although the new chicane has disadvantaged us a little bit. But we will also have to keep an eye on the other factories, because we have seen a lot of times the KTM being very competitive here. I'm ready and I'm confident that I can get another good result."
For the official Ducati rider, it was not easy to return to the levels of the past after the troubled season he experienced last year.
"The biggest challenge for me was to come back, because 2023 was a disaster for me," he admitted. " As Marc said, though, you can come back thanks to passion, and my dream for this year is to fight for the World Championship. Silverstone was a good moment for me because I didn't make any mistakes and I was competitive all weekend."
A nice boost of energy and confidence."I enjoyed the win a lot. I must say that I have been training these days but we also celebrated, because it was also right to enjoy the moment. A little respite after a thousand sufferings. Did I enjoy myself? Yes, especially in the Sprint. It was my favorite race and the most beautiful victory of the two, because it is usually the one where I suffer the most, instead I managed to stay in front from the beginning," Bastianini said.
Explaining then the importance of this triumph Enea added: "Surely winning is different, because unconsciously it relieves you. In any case, I knew I could do well by starting further ahead. So many races I lost right at the start, because I could not be effective enough in the first two laps, starting from the third or fourth row, or even further back. Many times I compromised the race. The knowledge that I can do well is always there, but the consistency to always start ahead a little less. By now, it has become essential to start on the first row because everything comes easier. Already starting from second you have more questions and it becomes more difficult. Let's say that in certain tracks being first or second at the first corner makes the difference."
At Silverstone, the Romagnolo showed that he has a whole other pace and awareness compared to the first races of the year. A topic on which Davide Tardozzi also expressed himself at the microphones of TNT Sport, pointing the finger at the not entirely correct attitude adopted by the 26-year-old at the beginning of the season, when he perhaps thought he was already cut out of the fight for the official seat.
"We were asked a lot of questions on this issue. I don't know if I was out of the official Ducati team already at the beginning of the year, but I fought everywhere to try to be faster ," Enea commented, " It wasn't easy for me because I missed a lot of races in 2023, but it was important to find more and more consistency and speed in this first part of the season. Now I can push harder to do better in the saddle, but maybe it's too late. I don't know if I agree or not, but that's how it went and next year I will be in KTM."
It will now be important for the Beast to confirm himself, both in Austria and in the upcoming races in Misano and Aragon.
"Misano is always nice for Italian riders, because we are from the area, but it will be a difficult track as always. We have seen that Jorge is always very fast there and he was especially fast last year. There will come many tracks and many important races for me because I will have to try to close the gap in the standings. It will not be easy, because I have to make up 49 points and I will have to fight constantly in the top positions, but I have to dream and try - he said - In my opinion it is still early to say who the fight will be with at the end of the year, but I am getting closer and closer to the top two and this is positive, because it means we are growing and doing well. There is still a little something missing, but I am trying to put the pieces together race by race."
Fighting for the title will not be easy, but Bastianini believes in it.
"To believe, I always believe. It's obvious that being faster and faster and acquiring some more data, you also gain confidence, so you go ahead better - he noted - Who would I want to win if I couldn't win the title? I don't know. Pecco has already won in the last two years and Marc has won so many, so...."
Photo credit: Dani Guazzetti
Automatic Translation by DeepL
