Second MotoGP-weekend in Misano

22.09.2024

Sprint

Francesco Bagnaia and the Ducati Lenovo Team have dominated the second day of action for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix by taking pole position (with new outright lap record) and by winning the 13-lap sprint race at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’. Enea Bastianini also put together an excellent performance as, from the front row of the grid, he managed to finish third.

Following a not-ideal start, Bagnaia entered turn one in third place, but quickly moved up to second position by overtaking Binder on the straight leading to the ‘Quercia’ corner. From there on, Pecco displayed an incredible place, which allowed him to bridge the 0.7secs gap to the then-leader Martín. With six laps left, the reigning world champion took advantage of a small mistake by his rival at turn 12 and passed him at the ‘Carro’ corner. Bagnaia then well defended his small lead up to the chequered flag.

Starting from third place on the grid, Bagnaia recovered the lost position at the ‘Quercia’ corner by diving on the inside of Binder on the opening lap. With a consistently quick pace, Enea tried to close the gap to the frontrunners but was unable to enter the battle for the race win. The Ducati rider #23 still managed to cross the finish line a lonely third, with a considerable margin over the following riders.

The fourteenth, full race of the season, the last one before the long extra-European trip, will get underway tomorrow at 13:00 local time (GMT +2) and will be contested over a 27-lap distance.

Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“I did everything to make sure my riding was as close to 100% as possible and luckily I managed to do so. Today’s race pace was crazy. Just two weeks ago, to be lapping in the 31.2/3 was already an incredible achievement, while today we were consistently quicker than that. Once again, I didn’t get the best of starts and I found myself also behind Brad (Binder). Once I moved up to second, I found myself with a 0.7secs gap, and it was hard to get the better of Jorge (Martín); without his mistake, it would have been a lot harder to overtake him. I was very quick in that sector, and I would have tried to pass him there anyway. I’m happy because we narrowed the gap down to the lead a bit more, but the most important race awaits us tomorrow and it’ll be key to get a good start and be in the lead from the get-go. I’d like to thank the team for the amazing work done and the fans for being here with us.”

Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 3rd
“It was a complicated race, although less than expected. I stayed fairly close to the frontrunners, who until today had shown a pace that was almost unrivalled. The most difficult part for me is in the first three-four laps, but I was still confident of being able to close the gap. Unfortunately, both of them were pushing really hard. We surely need to make some improvements ahead of tomorrow because I noticed we were not at our best in some parts of the track, so I think we can do something better. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow: it’s likely going to be a different race because we’ll probably be forced to use the medium rear tyre, but we’ll do our best.”

Rennen

The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was one of contrasting emotions for the Ducati Lenovo Team: on one hand, there is success with Enea Bastianini, who scored and exciting last-lap win, while on the flip side Francesco Bagnaia’s performance came to an early end as he crashed out of third place with seven laps remaining.

Bastianini had a good start from the front row of the grid as he kept himself in third despite a coming together with Binder. The Ducati rider #23 showed an excellent pace already in the early stages as he overtook his teammate during lap five with the goal of not losing touch with the then-leader Martín. Enea did a good job in bridging the small gap to his rival and, after being on his tail for several laps, the winning move came on the final lap at turn four, with Bastianini then making his way to race victory in front of his home crowd.

Bagnaia’s start from pole position was a good one as he moved into the lead in the direction change following turn one. The reigning world champion, despite his solid pace, showed some signs of struggle with the rear-end of his bike, and was eventually overtaken first by Martín on lap four and then by his teammate in the following one. After losing ground from his opponents, Pecco tried to up his game as he twice set the fastest lap of the race, but a crash with seven laps left deprived him of a podium that appeared within reach.

As the fourteenth Grand Prix of the season draws to a close, Bagnaia sits second in the championship standings with a 24-point gap from Martín. Bastianini is third, 59 points in arrears. Ducati reaches 500 points and seals the manufacturers’ title, while the Ducati Lenovo Team still leading the team standings (599 points).

The Ducati Lenovo team will be back in action this Friday for the Indonesian Grand Prix at the Mandalika Circuit.

Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1st
“This victory is a great achievement, because we built up to a crescendo this weekend. Yesterday we were missing something to battle for the win, but we worked until late in order to put all the pieces together and to find a solution ahead of today’s race, and it worked. Jorge (Martín) was extremely fast throughout the race and there was a moment in which I wasn’t sure if I could have stayed with him, as I started experiencing a bit of vibration at the rear-end. As the laps went by, however, I tried to understand how to minimise the issue. In the final laps, something extra obviously comes out that enables you to battle for the win. In the end, I made my move: when I dove in, Jorge tried to close the door and that forced me to lean a bit, which led to the front-end locking. I tried to rely on the rear as much as I could, while making sure I could make the turn, and it worked.”

Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – DNF
“Today simply went the way it did. I was already having some issues with the front locking since the start of the race so even when the rear tyre started to perform with 15 laps in and set the fastest lap of the race two times in a row, I still tried to be as careful as possible, especially under braking. Then, I lost the front as hit the brakes, despite being still in an upright position. It was a strange day no doubt, but we’ll be ready next time.”

Luigi Dall’Igna (Ducati Corse General Manager)
“The manufacturers’ title is a very important result, obviously on top of the win number 100 for Ducati in MotoGP. We are very proud with these milestones. The race was, as if often happens, a very intense and spectacular one. I’m very happy with Enea’s win as he did a great job with the team in order to find that something extra that put him in the position to battle for the win, especially with such a fierce opponent as Jorge, who’s always incredibly quick. A pity for Pecco, who was having a great race and really wanted to do well, but this is racing. We’ll try to understand what happened and how to improve ahead of the long, flyaway trip.”

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