Enea Bastianini: “My life is complicated!” after 19th to 7th charge at Malaysian MotoGP
Enea Bastianini admits “my life is complicated” after recovering from a tough Malaysian MotoGP qualifying to claim his best result since Catalunya.
Enea Bastianini paid the price for a lowly 19th place on the starting grid as he charged all the way to sixth in Sunday’s Malaysian MotoGP.
The Tech3 KTM rider lost two-thirds of the final 15-second deficit to race winner Alex Marquez in the opening half of the grand prix, when he was still down in 13th.
But in a race where the soft rubber needed exceptional management over the 20 laps, MotoGP’s ‘tyre whisper’ went on to pass Marco Bezzecchi, Brad Binder, followed by the Hondas of Luca Marini and Johann Zarco on the same lap.
Late retirements for Fermin Aldeguer and Francesco Bagnaia then handed Bastianini seventh at the chequered flag for his best result since a podium in Catalunya.
"My life is complicated!” he smiled. “Starting on Friday, I was nervous because I had no confidence with the bike.
“On Saturday, we resolved some problems in the sprint [ninth], and we arrived on Sunday prepared, ready to fight for the top 10.
“But starting from 18th is tough, I gave it my all, but it is difficult to recover positions on that track, as the front tyre is getting hotter and hotter.
“But anyway, I am happy with the job done today.
“We are still missing a bit of consistency, especially on time attacks, because every time we put on new tires, all KTM riders improve, and not me, so it is something that we need to understand, and I'm sure we can get better.
“Last year, I had the same issue, and we resolved it, so I am confident that we will find a way to solve it too with the KTM."
Team manager Nicolas Goyon called Bastianini’s ride a ‘bittersweet’ performance.
"Gaining 12 positions in the race to finish in P7 is a great performance,” Goyon said. “However, it gives us the same bittersweet feeling as usual, because he would probably have been fighting for the top 5 if he had qualified better.
“When you see the final position of Pedro Acosta, you really believe it would have been possible. We still have two races left to try improving our main weakness, so let's work towards that goal, we will give it our all until the end.”
KTM test rider Pol Espargaro, replacing the injured Maverick Vinales, crashed from twelfth place on lap 5.
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