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After missing out on access to Q2, closing Qualifying in 14th position, Enea Bastianini redeemed himself in the Sprint race at Aragon, sparking another splendid comeback. A race all on the attack, enhanced by a double overtaking against Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo, which allowed the Ducatista to pass seventh under the checkered flag.
"It was a beautiful race, because I had the confidence to recover many positions, as my confidence increased lap after lap. Before the race, however, I was nervous, because I could not ride well this morning. It was frustrating, because I couldn't get a single lap right. I made a lot of mistakes and I just couldn't drive and close the corners," commented Enea, explaining the difficulties he encountered in qualifying.
"I had so much grip and when I opened the throttle I went completely wide, while Marc can skate more than us. I've had so much grip on the rear and zero in front all weekend and that's what has stopped us so far. This afternoon was much better, because we tried to make several changes ahead of the race and the bike at the end was very different than yesterday morning. Even though it went better in the race, though, we still have to adjust the bike a little bit, because it will be important for tomorrow to take two more steps in this direction," he noted, "It was not easy for me to work well in this Grand Prix because my basic setup was not the right one for this track and the track changed several times between yesterday and this afternoon. In addition, I also made a mistake on Friday and was excluded from Q2. We'll see tomorrow, but I think we'll have the pace to stay with the top riders."
In what position could you finish the Aragon GP?
"First no for sure - he answered laughing - Marc in this race has something more than everyone. It is incredible how he is riding. I expected it a little bit, but it's obvious that the new asphalt was our Achilles' heel, because it took us longer to fix the bike, while he started already from a good base.I think it's late by tomorrow now-unless something happens so I get him close and then, in that case, who knows. If not, I think he will go off on his own."
Despite riding a GP23 the mahggiore of the Marquez brothers managed to make a difference on one of his favorite tracks, inflicting heavy gaps on his rivals.
"Why did he start from a good base already?I don't know, it was like for me at Silverstone, where I started from a base that allowed me to be fast right away. Without changing anything from Friday to Sunday," Enea noted , " Evidently his style is very well suited to this track, with this new asphalt."
While the eight champion was the protagonist of a solo ride, Bastianini gave a show in the middle of the group, recovering positions to the sound of overtaking.
"Today it was not easy to overtake the other riders, because you have to make different lines to try to overtake and the track is very dirty. You only get one chance, so every time I closed my eyes a little bit, because it was dangerous. If it doesn't rain this afternoon, though, it might be good for tomorrow, because otherwise we would probably have to start from scratch if it goes the way it did today," the 26-year-old pointed out, before commenting on his double overtake on the outside: "It was easier than it looks, because they had gone long."
Comebacks have now become one of the trademarks of the Rimini man, who hopes, however, to leave this trend aside a bit.
"On the one hand I'm glad, because it's better to catch up than to stay where I am. But, on the other hand, every time something happens and we have to try to solve it without making more mistakes, because every mistake I make and we make we always pay for it," he concluded, " For the future it will be important not to make any more mistakes.
Photo credit: ©Pierluca Brunetti
Automatic Translation by DeepL
