Enea Bastianini breaks down “push like a b*****” sprint scrap with Jorge Martin

Enea Bastianini not only took his first sprint race podium of his MotoGP career, but made it his first sprint win in MotoGP at the British Grand Prix.

The factory Ducati rider took the lead from Jorge Martin on lap six with a bold move on the brakes at Stowe corner.

• 2024 British MotoGP, Silverstone - Sprint Race Results

He was able to hold off the #89 to take the win, and with the DNF of Marc Marquez, move up to third in the World Championship standings.

“It was a difficult race because Jorge pushed a lot during the first few laps and it wasn’t easy,” Bastianini told media including Crash.net.

“Well, at the end I saw something different for me on the line and modified my approach in sector three.

“It was good! I was able to attack in the brake point and I was able to create some distance between him (Martin) for last laps… I am satisfied. Yeah, I push like a bastard and I think Jorge also pushed like a bastard.”

Both Bastianini and Martin needed assistance back to the podium on the cool down lap, as they were both on the limit with the fuel consumption, highlighting the demands of the Silverstone Circuit.

Bastianini explained: “Yeah, we arrived on the limit and I hope for tomorrow it’ll be better, I think Jorge pushed Fuel Map B, he was more on the limit compared to me. I arrived without the problem at the chequered flag.”

Why are Bagnaia and Martin crashing?

When asked about why he thinks teammate Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin are suffering with crashes, Bastianini went on to explain briefly about how it could relate to the rear tyre pushing on corner entry:

“Usually this year, we have that problem on the rear, especially on the entry the rear pushes. Well, it is curious to try the hard tyre for tomorrow’s race, because with the medium tyre today, it was tricky - especially on the left corners. I think it’ll be better to use the hard tyre tomorrow.”

Bastianini made it clear on Thursday that he needed to improve his qualifying performances in the second half of the season, to give him a better chance of fighting for podiums/wins. A strong performance in Q2 rewarded him with a front row start in third place at Silverstone, but he insisted that being on the right side of luck compared to his first half of the season is a factor:

“I don’t know what I changed, I remained the same (with set-up) - the first impact with the bike on Friday was super nice. I was always on top with the used tyre and new tyres in practice, so I understood the chance to be on top for the qualifying.

“I think maybe I have been unlucky for the first half of the championship. I got caught up with a lot of yellow flags/crashes and it has never been simple for me to close the gap to the others in the race. Today it was much easier and I suffered much less, compared usually to my standard!”

He also made it clear that Silverstone is one of his favourite circuits on the calendar, despite struggling in 2023 with the GP2.

“This track is good for me, I like it because it is very fast with a lot of changes of direction. In 2022, was good speed then and now with the 2024 bike is the same as then. Last year, I suffered a lot but you know, it was a different year and I wasn’t at 100%. But yeah…I love Silverstone.”

However, the crucial point stressed by the Italian was focused on selecting the right tyre combination and being able to manage it through out the race.

He said: “For tomorrow, it will be a different race because we pushed too much and also on the rear in the last two/three laps was tough. I think we will have to manage the first part of the race, to arrive with a good sensation with the rear tyre at the end of the race.

“The key is to bring the best possible choice with the tyre.

“We can resolve the problem with the riding style a little bit… How? I don’t know how!

“We have the data to compare with the other riders and see if they are doing something better, so then you can try that solution. This is a good option to have if you are behind/struggling."