Enea Bastianini shares ‘secrets’ on how to win at COTA
Enea Bastianini won on his last MotoGP visit to COTA in 2022, after missing the American round last season due to injury.
Third in the MotoGP standings after two rounds, Enea Bastianini returns to COTA for the first time since winning in 2022.
Bastianini’s win in 2022 was the second of four during that season with Gresini Ducati, before beating out Jorge Martin for the factory Ducati seat in 2023.
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“I have good memories from 2022 here in COTA,” said Bastianini ahead of today’s free practice at COTA. “It was fantastic to do a great victory. I missed the grand prix last year because of my injury and it was really bad for me.
“But I come here after a great podium in Portimao and also I’m consistent at the moment so let’s see if we can continue in that direction.
“I think we have a good set-up in every track which is important. Let’s see if I can be fast this year in COTA. Physically it is one of the most difficult races.”
Asked about his secrets to success two years ago, Bastianini admitted it’s important to save energy because of the American circuit's physical nature.
“There is new asphalt this year,” began Bastianini. “The secret; this track is very physical and if you spend energy in the first part, then at the end of the race you can’t be very fast.
“It depends on what my condition is and let’s see in the grand prix. I don’t think we have many secrets.”
After finishing second to Martin in Portimao, and the crashes for Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia, Bastianini moved into third place in the championship, two points ahead of team-mate Bagnaia.
Despite winning the season-opener in 2022, Bastianini’s start to 2024 has been even more impressive as his consistency has been bettered by very few rivals.
Hoping to continue that this weekend, Bastianini pointed to ‘the pickup of the bike’ as an area to improve upon.
Bastianini said: “Here in COTA the pickup [of the bike[ is important. I think that for the moment we have to modify this area a bit because in MotoGP the angle of the bike is very important.
“Especially in this track it can be the solution to winning.”
