Enea Bastianini’s first season as a factory rider in MotoGP was a true ordeal. Injuries prevented him from competing in several Grand Prix races, delaying his progress and keeping him away from the top positions… until his victory this Sunday at the Malaysian GP.
The Ducati rider spoke at a press conference about the adversities he faced in 2023: ‘I don’t think it was difficult; it was a disastrous season because I had several injuries – two injuries. And also a lot of pain, especially after the first injury it was impossible to train. I went to the gym just to work a little on my legs, but you also have to work on the other parts [of the body] if you want to be fast on a [MotoGP] motorcycle’.
According to Bastianini, the fourth place in the Sprint race in Sepang left him with the certainty that he could do even better in the main race: ‘Now it’s an incredible feeling. It was a good 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 in first at the first corner. […] It’s fantastic because the team worked very well from the beginning. We tried several solutions this weekend‘.
