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Enea Bastianini finished the first day of Sepang in third position, behind duelists Jorge Martìn and Pecco Bagnaia. In Malaysia Enea is carrying on his fight with Marc Marquez for the third step of the world podium, a goal that is within his reach given also Marc's difficulties on the Malaysian track. It should also be remembered that it was here in 2023 that Enea ended his own winless period, taking his first GP victory as an official Ducati rider at the end of a more than unfortunate season.
"I would say that the day went more or less as I expected - were Bastianini's words - at the beginning I was not too competitive, but towards the end I managed to improve quite a bit. Lately I have often suffered when there is little grip in the corners, as if the tyres were too soft. But we were able to improve in this area and at the end came a very good time attack as well. I made several mistakes in Turn 1, but overall it was a good day."
Let's say you found the speed, but maybe you still need to find the pace?
"I would say we need to work on it, because it is true that in my runs sometimes I was not consistent. From this point of view I think Jorge has something in his pocket, but I think I have some margin to catch up."
From the outside it looks like a lot of people are suffering on the braking, with the bike moving around. How come?
"That's actually the case, and I can't say for sure what it depends on, we still have to check. Maybe it depends on the conditions of the asphalt, but there is also to understand that today already on Friday we are really on the limit, because we push hard right away to prepare for Saturday, which is too important right now. But it feels worse here than on other tracks, and maybe it also depends on the type of rear tire they brought, which is much harder than the usual ones. Then today it was also very hot, so the situation was complicated for everyone."
Instead for the tyres?
"The pace was similar with both the medium front and the soft. Maybe the soft makes you feel more comfortable and that can be important for the race. It's hard to decide here because they usually bring different compounds, but here each one has its pros and cons and what you gain in braking maybe you lose as grip when you are leaning. It will be hard to decide."
But the balance of the day is positive right?
"In the final part I was happier. At that stage I found more sensations similar to what I was looking for. Actually, however, until half an hour from the end I couldn't find myself really well. Eventually the confidence I was looking for came and I moved forward in the standings as well. In my opinion it was just a matter of feeling. We started from a bike that didn't work very well, so we made some changes that by now we already know what kind of impact they have on the behavior of the bike. We were faster than we were a few races ago, and that is definitely important. I would say we are strong now, we just need to work out some details."
Will you look good in qualifying tomorrow?
"In qualifying lately I am quite fast and also in the Sprint I have certainly improved a lot. I'm more worried about the long race, because we still don't really know what tyre to do it with. That question mark remains, but I think we will work on that tomorrow morning."
Compared to Jorge and Pecco, what are you missing?
"I went wide at turn 1, without that I think I would have done the same time as Pecco and Jorge. In my opinion I'm not missing anything on the one lap, maybe on the pace now Jorge has a tenth in his pocket on everyone, I think he is the one who makes the difference."
