Last year didn’t go well for Enea Bastianini, with the Italian completing only one lap before crashing and getting injured. However, this doesn’t change the approach that the Ducati rider will have, as he mentioned that it is important to address the issues experienced in Qatar, since it is crucial to be among the fastest group of riders early on.
Regarding his expectations for the weekend, the 26-year-old rider stated: ‘I want to finish the race. Last year I only did one lap and this year we’ll see… We arrive here after a good weekend in Qatar, it was better in qualifying but in the race I noticed some problems, I need something more in braking, at the start, because some riders overtook me in the first and second corners and it was impossible to pass them back, let’s see if we improve in that aspect’.
The Italian then highlighted these particular problems: ‘Braking, yes, was the problem. I felt something at the beginning, especially in the first ten laps and now we have to see the balance of the bike on this track, which is different, but for the race it is important to brake later if you want to stay at the top. It’s the same as Pecco [Bagnaia] but when you test the bike alone it’s one thing, and when you’re with a group it’s different, everything changes, and I felt something different compared to what I felt in the tests’.
And he continued: ‘Normally in the first part of the race I try to be conservative, so to speak, but in Qatar it wasn’t like that, I tried to push from the start and it was very difficult to stay with the group. The bike is a bit different from last year and we have to try other solutions but maybe it’s not a big problem, we have to try something different, some changes, and this track is completely different’.
Regarding whether he has any additional work, from a mental point of view given what happened last year, the Italian concluded: ‘No. I stayed calm in the first GP, and the approach is to try to do something race by race and maybe here I have to do something more compared to Losail, but we have to push, it’s important for the championship to be at the top. The situation last year was bad but this year is new’.
