Enea Bastianini's "crazy race" - four long laps, crashes, bike swap, penalty
Enea Bastianini calls French MotoGP “crazy” after long laps, crashes, a bike swap, and a penalty.
There was no shortage of drama in Sunday’s French MotoGP, but Enea Bastianini’s race topped the list for individual mayhem.
By the chequered flag, the Tech3 KTM rider had served four long lap penalties, crashed twice, completed a bike swap - then earned a further long lap penalty for the next round in Silverstone.
"Crazy race!” Bastianini said.
It all began when Bastianini joined twelve other riders in switching to his dry bike at the end of the sighting lap for the restart, triggering a double long-lap penalty.
Enea Bastianini explains eventful French MotoGP
“Many things were going on today, with the weather constantly changing: one minute it was raining, and then it stopped," he explained.
“We started the warm-up lap with slick tyres, then it rained, so we swapped bikes, and then we changed again [on the sighting lap].”
But when the lights went out and the field charged into the Dunlop chicane - on a damp track and with a mix of tyre choices and start device settings - Bastianini braked too late and collided with former Ducati team-mate Francesco Bagnaia, leaving them both on the ground.
“The situation was difficult to manage for everyone... We crashed at the start, unfortunately taking down Pecco, for which I will have to serve a penalty in the next round,” he said.
“I rejoined the race, but I crashed again... Then we were a bit lucky, because it started raining and I could change bikes because my first one was completely destroyed.”
Bastianini’s luck didn’t last long as he received two more long laps for speeding in pit lane.
“The guys inside the garage didn't put the pit lane limiter and I started very fast, and another two long laps arrived.
"At the end, I finished [a lap down] in 13th place.
“We tried to give our best today, our pace was strong once the chaos was over, although we could have had a better strategy from the start, but it's like this!”
Team-mate Maverick Vinales crossed the line in fifth, just behind the factory KTM of Pedro Acosta.
Brad Binder crashed out of third place early in the grand prix.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
