Bassani snaps back: “Maybe Rinaldi should say sorry, I lifted and he didn’t"

In what was the most heated battle on-track through Race 1, Bassani and Rinaldi made contact on two occasions while Alvaro Bautista went on to win his ninth WorldSBK race from ten so far this season.

The first point of contact came on lap two of the restarted race when Rinaldi forced his way through on Bassani at turn three.

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Angered by the overtake, Bassani gestured in frustration before hitting Rinaldi seven corners later, however, this time the impact resulted in Rinaldi crashing out.

"My opinion is that it was a normal contact in the race," Bassani told WorldSBK.com. "I tried to overtake Michael because I saw a possibility to overtake him. We touched and I think it’s normal in a race. Was an overtake that was the same as him in turn three. Was nothing special." 

Bassani was then given a Long-lap penalty before suffering later on in the race with tyre degradation.

It meant Bassani is still without the podium he’s been craving so far in 2023, and with the Italian set to start the Superpole Race from P14, it looks unlikely that will happen in the first of two Sunday races. 

When speaking to the media post-race, Bassani spoke in further detail about the clash with Rinaldi and was quoted by GPOne.com in saying: "I definitely wanted to pass him right away. 

"Not because of the contact, but because I wanted to get in front to not overheat the front tyre, given that on the restart we had to put a used [tyre] because we no longer had new tyres. 

"We touched and I’m sorry for that, but that’s racing. 

"He’s a contact in the race for me. Just like I was supposed to say sorry, maybe he should too because the contact was the same, only I lifted the bike and he didn’t."