Enea Bastianini’s first season as a factory rider in MotoGP proved to be a true challenge. Injuries prevented him from participating in several Grand Prixes, hampered his progress, and kept him away from the top positions… until his victory this Sunday at the Malaysian GP.
The Ducati Italian rider spoke about the adversities he faced in 2023 during a press conference: ‘I think it wasn’t difficult; it has been a disastrous season because I had many injuries – two injuries. And also a lot of pain, especially after the first injury it was impossible to me to train. I was three months without training. I was in the gym only to work a little bit the legs, but you also have to work the other parts [of the body] if you want to be fast on a MotoGP [bike]’.
According to Bastianini, the fourth-place finish in the Sprint race in Sepang gave him the confidence that he could do even better in the main race: ‘It’s an incredible feeling now. It was a great race, because I saw after the Sprint race that with my pace I could try to do something more in the main race. And I needed the right mentality to be first in the first corner. […]. It’s fantastic because the team worked very well from the start. We’ve tried many solutions this weekend’.