“Sounds good” - Top Honda rookie receives “difficult to overtake” praise
Enea Bastianini praised Diogo Moreira’s late braking after battling the MotoGP rookie for eighth place during the Aragon Grand Prix.
Aragon marked a milestone weekend for MotoGP rookie Diogo Moreira, who finished as the top Honda rider in both the Sprint and Grand Prix.
The reigning Moto2 champion was edged out by returning team-mate Johann Zarco in qualifying, before leading the RC213V challenge with seventh in the Sprint.
Switching to the medium rear, alongside the rest of the field, for the grand prix, Moreira held eighth for much of the race before being passed by Enea Bastianini on the final lap.
Afterwards, the experienced Tech3 rider praised Moreira’s braking ability.
“Diogo is very difficult to overtake,” said Bastianini. “He's a new rival. I didn't fight a lot with him.
“It’s very hard to fight with him. He brakes very late.
“Just on edge, I was in a better situation. Like in Turns 3, 7 or 14, I saw my potential at that point, and I overtook him.”
Told of Bastianini’s comments about his braking ability, Moreira responded:
“Sounds good! For me, we just need to improve the speed in the middle of the corner.
“I was able - all the race, all the laps - to brake super hard.
“But we are looking for edge grip now.”
He added: “I enjoyed the race today a lot.
"At the beginning it was difficult to warm up the medium rear tyre, also [for the others] in Honda.
“But I think we managed the race well, and at the end I was trying to fight with Enea.
“Just in the last lap I made a mistake in the last sector. But I’m happy. It was a positive weekend for us."
Moreira is tipped to move to the factory HRC team alongside Fabio Quartararo next season.
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.
