Enea Bastianini: “Marc Marquez touched me, impossible to stop the bike”
The Repsol Honda rider crashed out at Silverstone after an incident with his factory Ducati rival, who battled on before also retiring from the race.
For Marquez the importance was arguably greater because he has still not completed a grand prix in 2023 amid a plethora of problems on his substandard bike.
It initially appeared that he was unfortunate at Silverstone to be wiped out of the race bu Bastianini, but now the Italian has offered a different view.
“Marc touched me in Turn 11, on entry,” Bastianini said.
“On Turn 15, I tried to brake but it was impossible to stop the bike so I went straight on.”
Marquez was out of the race immediately, Bastianini tried to continue for a while but also came to a premature end.
“After the contact with Marc, something happened on the bike,” he explained. “Also, the tyre was broken.
“Probably, because of this I crashed.”
Bastianini saw Mooney VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi dramatically crash out from second-place when trying to overtake factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia.
“When you are behind other riders, the downforce is impossible to stop the bike in a short time,” Bastianini said about Bezzecchi’s incident.
Bastianini has also experience a season ruined by an injury at the first weekend and has completed just two grands prix, at the prior two rounds.
“Physically I am OK,” Bastianini said about his comeback from injury. “But the bike is so nervous so I am not relaxed on my seat.
Bastianini said about his adaption from last year’s Gresini bike to the 2023-spec Desmosedici: “We changed a lot to the bike to arrive for the race, to do something more. But nothing changed.
“The race was so difficult for me. Only in the hardest-braking I was strong. In the other parts of the track, no.
“We have tried a rear suspension, we tried to modify the bike, but probably we need more, something more.
“Like Pecco’s, because he changed last year’s bike a lot.
“But I need time to understand this.
“It was important to do this race, to do 16 laps. Now I have more data to give to my team, to explain to my team.
“Probably, the direction will not be similar.
“I don’t know if I can do this in a short time.
“Last year it was normal but the engine is now different. My sensation is [different]. It is so aggressive for me, not a good choice.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
